THURSDAY, Oct. 3, 2024 (HeathDay News) — Moms-to-be have long known about breast milk’s multiple benefits. Now, a global study confirms that antibodies passed from to baby in breast milk can indeed shield against disease. Immune system antibodies against one common infection, rotavirus, were especially protective, said a team from the University of Rochester in New York. “It was encouraging to see such a clear link between higher antibody levels and a delay to rotavirus infection,” said study lead author Dr. Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo, a professor of allergy and immunology at the university’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. The new study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research involved analysis of breast milk samples from 695 women in Finland, the United States, Pakistan, Peru and Bangladesh. Jarvinen-Seppo and her colleagues measured levels of certain IgA and IgG immune system antibodies produced in breast milk, and pitted them against 1,607 proteins from 30 disease-linked germs. The participants’ global diversity was key to the research. “We would expect to find differences in antibody levels in different countries, due to different diseases circulating among areas of the world, but this is one of the first times that there’s been a head-to-head comparison for dozens of pathogens across several continents,” Jarvinen-Seppo explained in a university news release. The study…  read on >  read on >

A new law just passed in California makes it the first state to tell public schools they may no longer serve foods that contain six artificial dyes linked to health and behavior problems among children. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the California School Food Safety Act into law on Saturday. It bans Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 in meals, drinks and snacks served in school cafeterias across the state, although the law won’t take effect until Dec. 31, 2027. “Our health is inextricably tied to the food we eat — but fresh, healthy foods aren’t always available or affordable for families,” Newsom said in a news release after signing the bill into law. “Today, we are refusing to accept the status quo, and making it possible for everyone, including school kids, to access nutritious, delicious food without harmful, and often addictive, additives. By giving every child a healthy start, we can set them on the path to a future with less risk of obesity and chronic illness.” The bill was first proposed in March by Democratic Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, three years after a state report linked consuming synthetic food dyes to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children. “Overall, our review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness,…  read on >  read on >

A raw diet pet food company is recalling cartons of frozen beef and chicken dog food that could be tainted with salmonella or listeria germs. Answers Pet Food announced the recall this week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that two of its dog foods tested positive for salmonella, a third tested positive for listeria, and a fourth tested positive for both. The FDA performed the tests after receiving three consumer complaints of illness in dogs that ate the products, the agency said in a safety warning issued Monday. There have been no reports of human illness. The recalled dog food products all come in half-gallon cartons weighing four pounds. They include: Answers Detailed Beef Formula for Dogs, best by date of May 6, 2026. Answers Straight Beef Formula for Dogs, best by date of Jan. 31, 2026. Answers Straight Chicken Formula for Dogs, best by dates of Jan. 2, 2026 and March 11, 2026. These products are sold online and in retail locations nationwide. Answers Pet Food is located in Fleetwood, Pa. The best by date can be found on a sticker on the carton. If a person no longer has the packaging or can’t read the sticker, they should throw the food away. If consumers have any of these pet food products, they should throw it away in a secure container,…  read on >  read on >

Climate change and worsening diets are sending global rates of stroke and stroke deaths skyward, a new study warns. Almost 12 million people worldwide had a stroke in 2021, up 70% since 1990, according to a team led by Valery Feigin, of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. It’s now the third leading cause of death in the world, killing more than 7.3 million people each year. It doesn’t have to be this way, since stroke is largely preventable, experts say. “With 84% of the stroke burden linked to 23 modifiable risk factors, there are tremendous opportunities to alter the trajectory of stroke risk for the next generation,” said study co-author Dr. Catherine Johnson. She’s lead research scientist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Some risk factors for stroke include air pollution (exacerbated by climate change), excess body weight, high blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity. All of these hazards can be reduced or controlled, the researchers said. The study was published Sept. 18 in The Lancet Neurology journal. Besides the millions of deaths linked to stroke, these attacks often leave survivors seriously disabled. The number of years of healthy life lost globally to stroke rose by almost a third (32%) between 1990 and 2021, the report found. Why the uptick in stroke?…  read on >  read on >

Consumers should be aware that some chocolate labeled as “dairy-free” actually contains milk, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. This inaccurate labeling could put people with milk allergies in danger, the FDA noted. About 13 of 210 chocolate samples sold in Pennsylvania and Michigan in 2022 and 2023 tested positive for milk, the FDA said in an agency news release. The 13 samples came from three different food manufacturing firms, the FDA said. In response to the findings, two manufacturers removed the “dairy-free” claim from their chocolate products, the FDA said. The third manufacturer agreed to remove the “dairy-free” claim from its products if the cause of the presence of milk could not be determined and eliminated, the agency said. A preliminary investigation has implicated the supplier of dark chocolate as the likely source of milk in these products, rather than unsafe practices by the manufacturer, the FDA said. The FDA noted that it doesn’t define the terms “dairy-free” or “milk-free,” but that when these claims are made by manufacturers they must be truthful. All 13 of the chocolate products found to contain milk did have labeling with milk allergen advisory statements, like “…made in a facility that also processes milk.” People with milk allergies can contact chocolate manufacturers and inquire how specific products are made, the FDA said. They can also ask whether…  read on >  read on >

Cadmium, uranium, cobalt: These and other metals found in the environment can collect in the body and exacerbate heart disease, new research suggests. “Our findings highlight the importance of considering metal exposure as a significant risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease,” said study lead author Katlyn McGraw, a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University in New York City. “This could lead to new prevention and treatment strategies that target metal exposure,” she added in a Columbia news release. McGraw’s team found that as levels of various metals rose in people’s urine samples, so did evidence of stiffer, calcified arteries — a key component of heart disease. The research was published Sept. 18 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The Columbia team looked specifically at a process called atherosclerosis, the gradual hardening of blood vessels caused by a buildup of fatty plaques. Atherosclerosis can also lead to the buildup of unhealthy calcium deposits in arteries. Are exposures to environmental toxic metals a contributor to all of this? To find out, McGraw’s team combed through a major database of more than 6,400 American middle-aged and older adults who were all free of heart disease when they joined the study between 2000 and 2002. Urine samples tracked each participants’ levels of six environmental metal already known to have links with heart disease: Cadmium, cobalt,…  read on >  read on >

A few cups of coffee each morning can help protect a person against heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, a new study says. Drinking three cups of coffee a day — or about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine — lowered the risk of health problems linked to the heart or metabolism, researchers found. “The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit to healthy people might have far-reaching benefits,” said lead researcher Dr. Chaofu Ke, a medical statistician with Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University in China. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 500,000 people ages 37 to 73 participating in the long-term U.K. Biobank research project. Out of that group, they identified more than 172,000 people who’d reported their caffeine intake, and another 188,000 who’d reported their coffee or tea consumption. The researchers compared people’s caffeine intake to whether they had developed two or more signs of cardiometabolic disease. That term relates to risk factors that can harm heart health, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess body weight. Results showed that any level of coffee or caffeine intake lowered a person’s risk of suffering multiple health problems related to heart or metabolism. But the best results came with moderate intake of coffee or caffeine, they found. People who drank…  read on >  read on >

That plastic wrap you find around the food you eat is far from benign: A new study shows that more than 3,600 chemicals leach into food during the packaging process. Of that number, 79 chemicals are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations, and endocrine and reproductive issues, a team of international researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. “Our research helps to establish the link between food contact chemicals and human exposure, highlights chemicals that are overlooked in biomonitoring studies and supports research into safer food contact materials,” lead study author Birgit Geueke, senior scientific officer at the nonprofit Food Packaging Forum, said in a news release on the study. Experts were stunned by the magnitude of the findings. “This is a staggering number and shows that food contact materials are a significant source of chemicals in humans,” Martin Wagner, a professor of biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, told CNN. “The study is the first to systematically link the chemicals we use in materials to package and process foods to human exposure,” said Wagner, who was not involved in the research. While food packaging materials may comply with government regulations, the study shows these chemicals may not be completely safe, said senior study author Jane Muncke, managing director and chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging…  read on >  read on >