Category: Quality Control (Page 44 of 74)

FDA to Test Imported Orange Juice for Fungicide

January 15, 2012 / Staff

The FDA will begin testing imported orange juice for trace of illegal pesticides.

The substance in question, carbendazim is an illegal pesticide chemical which is used outside of the U.S.

If the residue is found in shipments they will be turned away by the FDA.

The FDA said it will examine all container shipments of orange juice that arrive at U.S. ports. The agency will sample contents from multiple parts of each shipment; the subsequent testing could take between five and ten business days.
Shipments that test negative for “detectable levels” of carbendazim will be allowed to enter the country.

Quality Control

carbendazim FDA fungicide in orange juice orange juice from Brazil

Murder is No Longer a Leading Cause of Death in The U.S.

January 15, 2012 / Staff

A respiratory illness called pneumonitis which is seen mainly in people 75 and older, has supplanted homicide as a leading cause of death in the U.S.

Death rates increased for Alzheimer’s disease, which is the nation’s sixth-leading killer.

Also increased are, Kidney disease (No. 8), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (No. 12), Parkinson’s disease (No. 14) and pneumonitis.

U.S. life expectancy for a child born in 2010 was about 78 years and 8 months, up about a little more than one month from life expectancy for 2009.
Heart disease and cancer remain the top killers, accounting for nearly half the nation’s more than 2.4 million deaths in 2010. But the death rates from them continued to decline.
Deaths rates for five other leading causes of death also dropped in 2010, including stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, flu/pneumonia and blood infections.

Quality Control, Research

Alzheimer's causes of death chronic liver disease cirrhosis heart attack leading cause of death in the U.S.Parkinson's disease Stroke

Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Found in India

January 14, 2012 / Staff

TB that resists antibiotic treatment is causing problems in India.

Over crowded living conditions, poor hygiene, ill-informed medical staff are and over use of antibiotics are fueling the already rampant problem.

The risk of drug resistant disease becoming pandemic is one of the Greatest concerns of the World Health Organization.

The problem of evolving TB drug resistance has been brewing for years. In the early 1990s, multidrug-resistant TB began spreading in New York City, abetted by homelessness, prison outbreaks and HIV. Aggressive identification and treatment of these cases, including the direct observation of patients taking their pills, snuffed out that epidemic.
In 2005, extensively drug-resistant TB — strains untreatable with the three first-line drugs and several second-choice medications — cropped up in the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal, again abetted by HIV, which devastates immune defenses.

Quality Control, Resources, Wellness

antibiotic antibiotic resistant bacteria epidemic India Mumbai overuse of antibiotics pandemic TB Tuberculosis WHO World Health Organization

Beware the Lack of Nutrition in Your Breakfast Cereal

January 14, 2012 / Staff

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A quote from a fantastic, in depth article in Harvard Magazine sums it up:

“As far as our hormones and metabolism are concerned, there’s no difference between a bowl of unsweetened corn flakes and a bowl of table sugar. Starch is 100 percent glucose [table sugar is half glucose, half fructose] and our bodies can digest it into sugar instantly.”

Nutrition, Quality Control, Research, Wellness

"Eat This Not That"breakfast cereals breakfast foods carbohydrates David Zinczenko healthy breakfast low-carb

Too Big To Donate For Science?

January 13, 2012 / Staff

Medical research has it’s limits and it seems to be about 170 pounds.

For those who want to donate their bodies to scientific research they and their loved ones need to be aware that there is a size limit.

It can be difficult for technicians to handle huge corpses, which have to be lifted and transferred frequently, often by slim technicians or students, said John Lee Powers, curator of anatomical materials at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. That program limits donors to between 170 pounds and 180 pounds, though an exceptionally tall donor might be allowed at 190.