Food Safety & Nutrition | The Pump Handle

Agriculture Study finds farmers markets can increase healthy food access among the most disadvantaged

February 19, 2016 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

In the last few years, the residents of Flint, Michigan, and its surrounding suburbs lost five grocery stores. Today, within the city limits, there’s just one large chain grocery store, about 10 small and often-pricier groceries, and 150 liquor stores, convenience stores and gas stations. People who have a car often travel out to the suburbs for more variety and better prices. Much of Flint is a food desert — a place where accessing healthy, affordable food is a very real challenge.

Environmental Health Study: Chemical alternative in BPA-free products may not be safer

February 12, 2016 Kim Krisberg 3Comment

Manufacturers who market their products as “BPA-free” aren’t just sending consumers a message about chemical composition. The underlying message is about safety — as in, this product is safe or least more safe than products that do contain BPA. However earlier this month, another study found that a common BPA alternative — BPS — may not be safer at all.

Environmental Health Achoo!! No paid sick leave for 91% of Arkansas poultry workers

February 5, 2016 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

On the day that Arkansas-based Tyson Foods announced $461 million in quarterly profits, a survey of Arkansas poultry workers found 91% did not have paid sick leave.

Agriculture Occupational Health News Roundup

February 2, 2016 Kim Krisberg

Federal laws fail to protect workers left out of state workers’ comp systems; electronics recycling workers and their families face dangerous lead poisoning risks; California farmworkers join forces with low-wage food service workers for better pay; and a worker who died during preparations for the Super Bowl is remembered.

Food Safety & Nutrition Amputations abound at Tyson Foods, OSHA records shed more light on industrial food production

January 27, 2016 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 23Comment

OSHA now requires employers to report when a work-related amputation occurs. In the first nine months under the new regulation, how many amputations did one of the country’s largest food manufacturers report to OSHA?

Agriculture Occupational Health News Roundup

January 19, 2016 Kim Krisberg

The Center for Investigative Reporting exposes discriminatory hiring practices within the temporary staffing industry; a worker dies in another chemical facility explosion in Houston; a new Amnesty International report links tech giants to child labor; and Amazon is cited for failing to report workplace injuries.

Addiction & Substance Abuse Study: Flavoring chemicals linked to occupational illness found in electronic cigarettes

December 16, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

In a recent study, Harvard public health researchers decided to test a few dozen types of electronic cigarettes for diacetyl, a flavoring chemical associated with a severe respiratory disease known as “popcorn lung.” The researchers found diacetyl in a majority of the e-cigarettes they tested. News outlets jumped on the findings, with some announcing that e-cigarettes could cause the often-debilitating respiratory disease.

Food Safety & Nutrition Food banks use technology to fight hunger

November 30, 2015 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

As many of us indulged in Thanksgiving meals last week, NPR’s Planet Money podcast and WAMU’s Metro Connection shared stories on ways food banks are using technology to improve food distribution.

Food Safety & Nutrition Multistate foodborne illness outbreaks are disproportionately deadly

November 9, 2015 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

Multistate foodborne illness outbreaks accounted for only 3% of the 4,163 foodborne outbreaks during 2010-2014, but they were responsible for 34% of hospitalizations and 56% of outbreak-associated deaths.

Addiction & Substance Abuse CDC: Current, former smokers biggest users of electronic cigarettes

October 28, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released the first nationally representative estimates of electronic cigarette use among U.S. adults, finding that more than 12 percent had ever tried the aerosol nicotine products in 2014. So, as is the unfortunate case with many emerging and potential public health threats, it seems like e-cigarette use is outpacing the ability of regulatory bodies to protect the public’s health and educate consumers about possible risks.