On Tuesday, the FDA announced that it will require the food industry to eliminate the use of artificial trans fats by 2018. Does that mean trans fats will soon disappear completely? Not quite. Here are five things to watch for as the FDA’s new ruling rolls out.
Requiring certain ingredients to be listed on food labels can often drive larger changes in what we consume. The U.S. required trans fats to appear on food labels in 2006, but countries such as Brazil and Argentina have gone much further in setting limits on the unhealthy fats.
Why have policies limiting the prevalence of trans fats been so slow to arrive? A brief history explains how policy actions aimed at curbing such fats, now known for their role in chronic diseases, ultimately gained traction in tip-of-the-spear countries such as Denmark.
Alaska has the nation’s highest rate of people living without plumbing, and that can translate into real health problems for rural families. Despite the problem, state officials have declined to make the larger investments needed to improve conditions for the state's more remote residents.
In the wake of Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore residents took to the streets in protest. The best media coverage showed how years of neglect have crippled West Baltimore economies, fostered distrust and violence, and put a long, healthy life entirely out of reach for many residents, Gray included.
Unhealthy trans fats have long remained a staple in our food supply, but that’s slowly starting to change. Denmark provides a useful case study for what happens when countries move to limit the amount of trans fats in food.
The privilege that has allowed parents to refuse immunizations for their kids stems not from economic or educational status — it springs from the privilege of not having seen the horrific diseases that ravaged U.S. children just two generations ago, and continue to do so worldwide.
New research offers some much-need recommendations on how to curb MRSA infections among nursing home residents. As it turns out, the activities that pose the greatest risk of infection aren't always what you might think they'd be.
California is taking another run at requiring doctors to check a patient’s prescription history before prescribing potentially addictive drugs, with legislation passing the state senate yesterday. But will California legislators make the same kinds of compromises with providers that Oklahoma did?
Children consume a bigger proportion of their daily calories from added sugars than adults, and the concerns go beyond nutrition. New research suggests that fructose can activate the brain's reward regions and generate hunger and cravings for other high-calorie foods.
