TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — U.S. health advisers recommended Tuesday to lower the maximum dose of over-the-counter acetaminophen — the key ingredient in Tylenol, Excedrin and many other pain-killing medications.
The advisers’ vote followed the release of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report last month. It found that severe liver damage and even death can result from a lack of consumer awareness that acetaminophen — which is easier on the stomach than painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen — can cause such injury.
Also, many people may take more than …

Although corn is a food most people associate with New Mexico, our state is not one of the nation’s top producers; yet corn is everywhere in our regional diet. Tortilla chips take the place of bread in the baskets on many of our tables, and pretty much every New Mexican restaurant in town offers some traditional corn-based fare: tamales, posole or one of any number of dishes made using corn tortillas. Where might that corn come from?
With the locus of the American corn crop on my mind, I recently sat …

Do you really know what’s in the wine you lift to your lips over dinner?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell. The new fly in the ointment: additives that go beyond the already enhanced tools of modern winemakers.
There’s a new arsenal of chemicals out there, and while it’s hard to pinpoint who is using them, major wine supply firms are selling tons of the stuff.
And not only to amateur winemakers.
Mind you, folks have been adding strange things to their wine for more than 2,000 years. The ancient Romans often watered their …

Nutrition experts have criticised a report on the effects of food colouring on children by TV3’s 60 Minutes this week, with one dietician saying an experiment conducted by the programme was “one of the most biased you could ever hope to see”.
In the experiment, one group of children was given “healthy” food and the other was given “party” food containing artificial colouring.
The reporter commented on the differences in behaviour she observed, attributing those differences to food colouring in the items consumed.
The science behind the experiment was criticised by NZ Dietetic …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it is seeking public input on the implementation of its new authority overseeing tobacco products in the United States. The agency is inviting the public to provide information and share views on a variety of topics, from product content to advertising and marketing. All public comments will be posted online.
The FDA is establishing a public docket to obtain information on the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act in order to provide an opportunity for …