2007 has been a year of recalls worth recalling. It's created a stir with contaminated toothpaste and deadly spinach, DNA revelations and vegansexuals, as well as a variety of surprises from various health fronts. Listed below are this year's highlights in the fields of health, medicine, and wellness.
China, the lead-erAmerican and Canadian consumers were alerted to avoid Chinese-made toothpaste after thousands of recalled tubes in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic were found to contain diethylene glycol, an ingredient in anti-freeze. When millions of toys -- all made in China -- were recalled in the United States over concerns about lead levels, things really got serious. Yielding to political pressure from the United States, several factories in China were shut down and product safety regulations beefed up. The former Chinese drug safety chief was also a casualty (I mean -- executed by the government -- not "lead-killed").
"Locavore"Simply put, it infers "Local Eating." "Locavore" was named Oxford's word of the year. Though no uniform definition for the coined term has been established, it has become a fad arising from deep links with environmentalism. Two British Columbians' exemplifying definition has been to eat food grown within 100 miles from home. Organic or inorganic -- however many may argue about it, "Locavores" say the environmental results are there. There's also that notion the the fresher food is, the better.
Copy-cow, copy-sow...you've got meat! The possibility of cloned meat sold on a mass scale has come up before, but in 2007, it started to seem more likely. The FDA debated what the regulations would be around the labelling of meat coming from cloned animals -- if there would be any at all. A decision on the sale of cloned foods was expected by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a California bill that would have required labelling for meat from cloned animals. And a Wired magazine investigation pointed out that while governments and regulatory bodies battle it out, consumers might already be eating meat from animals descended from clones.
Gene sequencingFor a thousand bucks, one can reveal a variety of personal features or traits deciphered from the genes. Thanks to companies like 23andMe and deCODEme, learning about oneself better has turned a new leaf.
Food scaresPopeye's power food killed three people in the United States in late 2006 and infected nearly 200 others. Yes, that's the mighty spinach spreading some scare. The culprit was E. coli, a bacteria usually associated with meat, whic may have found its way into bagged spinach via cow manure. The contamination and subsequent recall set in motion an examination of safety standards in the produce industry. But if several meat recalls this year didn't remind people that the food supply might not be safe, a report on the Food and Drug Administration released by an advisory panel containing scientists and industry representatives that pointed to a funding situation that puts American lives "at risk" certainly did.
Functional foods and the "Healthy" businessIf you think that all foods are functional, you haven't spent much time in a grocery store's drinks aisle lately. The options have widened considerably beyond orange juice, apple juice, soda and bottled water. Now, if a beverage doesn't offer some sort of additional health benefit, it's passe. Exotic fruits like acai, mangosteen and goji berries are showing up in juice drinks, boasting impressive amounts of antioxidants and vitamins. Glaceau's vitaminwater earned itself some cache with a purchase by Coca-Cola and celebrity endorsements from Jennifer Aniston and 50 Cent, even if critics charged the health claims weren't supported. And speaking of Coke, they introduced Enviga, a green tea-spiked beverage the company says helps burn calories. It also set up a facility in China to research traditional medicines, with the hopes of applying that knowledge to future product offerings. Functional foods have really made a splash in the beverages category, but they're trickling out into other parts of the grocery store as well -- witness the sudden ubiquitiousness of probiotics in everything from yogurt to breakfast cereal.
Vegansexuality: Exclusively veggie eating and datingWhat if the Alicia Silverstone in that famous veganism-promoting TV ad turned out to be single and vegansexual? Meat-eating guys despair. Enter vegansexuals: vegans who won't date carnivores. In 2007, the trend came to be known better. Eating habits extended to becoming lifestyle and personality factors.
U.S. Health: State of the unionPicturing America health-wise: The citizens are living longer -- three years longer in 2004 than in 1990 for men, and one for women. But during those longer lives, they're also getting more chronic diseases, meaning more Americans are living with pain and disability. Obesity rates for adults have leveled off, with 33 percent of men and 35 percent of women reported as obese in a 2005/06 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up slightly from 31 and 33 percent respectively in the 2003/04 survey. That change isn't statistically significant, but it's still quite a way from the 15 percent rate seen in 1980. Ironically, some studies showed that the millions of Americans in the overweight range -- defined as a body mass index between 25 and 29 -- actually have a lower death rate than not only the obese, but also those who are underweight and normal weight. Childhood obesity , however, is still increasing, and recent studies have shown that obese children are at risk of future health issues, particularly coronary problems - some experts are predicting that we'll see a spike in cases in 20 years.
source: Reuters
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