Weekly Health Digest: Ultraprocessed Food, Salmonella, and Dietary Supplements

Eating ‘ultraprocessed’ foods accelerates your risk of early death, study says

By: Susan Scutti

Researchers are warning about the consumption of ultraprocessed foods, which are those that include many ingredients and additives for taste and cosmetic purposes. These foods–often snacks, desserts, and ready-to-eat meals–comprise 61% of the typical American diet and can lead to obesity, cancer, and high blood pressure. Using a detailed dietary and health information from almost 45,000 French people, researchers identified a 14% higher risk of early death for each 10% of increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods.

Racial Disparities In Cancer Incidence And Survival Rates Are Narrowing

By: Patti Neighmond

A Cancer Journal for Clinicians by the American Cancer Society published a report February 14 with data showing that the cancer death racial gap is narrowing. Cancer death numbers have dropped across the board for Americans, but the rates are falling faster for blacks than whites. The report shows that about 30 years ago, black men had a 47% higher cancer death rate than their white counterparts; that statistic has dropped to 19% percent higher than white men. With black women, they had a 19% greater cancer death rate than white women. Today, that percentage has fallen six percent. While the numbers are lower than decades earlier, the black community is still dealing with cancer at high rates than the white community. The report attributes changes to more screening and less smoking.

Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Raw Turkey Expands with 63 More Illnesses

The CDC is expanding its recall of raw turkey products due to a salmonella outbreak in 41 states as well as the District of Columbia. As of February 13th, there have been 279 reported cases of salmonella associated with these products, but the CDC has not been able to find any single point of origin. This outbreak, which begin in November 2017, has resulted in the hospitalization of 107 people and 1 death in California.

FDA targets illegally marketed dietary supplements

By Michael Nedelman

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found multiple American dietary supplement companies culpable of making unsupported health claims about their products. In the past week, the FDA sent a series of warning and online advisory letters to companies falsely promoting their products as ‘treatments’ for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer. With almost 75% of Americans regularly consuming dietary supplements, there are significant safety and efficacy concerns for those who replace physician-endorsed treatment with deceptive ‘alternate treatments’. The FDA must be more meticulous with its policies on dietary supplements to prevent further instances of fallacious marketing in the industry.