FDA

If the biotech industry has its way, ordering a hamburger might soon sound something like this: “one charbroiled cloned-beef patty, with genetically modified cheese, lab-grown bacon and vitamin-C-fortified lettuce, on a protein-spiked bun.” The burger of the future is delicious, nutritious and contains more engineering than a stealth bomber.

Chemicals surround us; from the food we eat, to the electronic devices we use, to the clothes we wear. But to what extent do they put our health in danger? That's a question increasingly being asked by scientists. Despite promises from the federal government, little to no research is actually being done.

If you were eating the spawn of a clone, would you want to know? Actually, you probably have already. As Ben Paynter pointed out in his lovely story for Wired last year, ranchers have been asked by the FDA to voluntarily keep clones and their offspring out of the food supply, but there’s no enforcement. And it’s not like they taste any different.

WASHINGTON: A Chinese factory that has not been inspected by the Food and Drug Administration is the source for the active ingredient of a critical blood-thinning drug whose production was suspended this week after 350 patients reported ill effects from it. At least four people died after being given the drug, heparin.

This week, livestock cloning companies ViaGen, Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics introduced a supply chain management program to identify cloned animals as they enter the food chain. The program acts as a marketing claim, similar to other process-based programs in ag such as USDA's Certified Organic Program or Halal Meat Certification, but its aim is to allow companies in the food chain to identify and possibly exclude cloned animals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued a warning about Pfizer Inc's anti-smoking drug, Chantix, amid reports of at least one death, and suicidal thoughts and behavior linked to the medication.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Veterinarians have been implanting microchips into pets for years but there's a recent push to put them in humans. Now, Central Florida hospitals are putting in the technology that would allow them to scan your arm and pull up your medical records.

Morando Soffritti, an Italian researcher with the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna is known for his publication of a study that found aspartame, the artificial sweetener consisting of two amino acids and a methanol binding agent, caused multiple cancers in rats.

In late December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the meat and milk from cloned cattle, goats and pigs are safe and do not require any special labeling. The announcement drew immediate protest from consumer groups, which criticized the agency for reaching a sweeping safety conclusion based on data from relatively short- term studies on fewer than 100 cloned food animals. They also cited the high incidence of birth defects among cloned animals.