Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Jif Peanut Butter Recalled Due To Salmonella Risk
Axios: Jif Peanut Butter Recall: FDA Links Select Products To Salmonella Outbreak
The J. M. Smucker Co. is recalling select Jif peanut butter products for potential Salmonella contamination. The voluntary recall comes amid a multistate outbreak of infections linked to certain Jif peanut butter products produced by the company’s facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Health officials from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the ongoing outbreak and say there have been 14 reported cases of Salmonella Senftenberg infections with two hospitalizations. (Tyko, 5/21)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: 185K Pounds Of Bacon Products Recalled After Nationwide Distribution
An Iowa company has recalled about 185,610 pounds of ready-to-eat bacon topping products that might be contaminated with metal, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release Friday. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said it expects there to be additional products containing the bacon and urges consumers to check back frequently to view updated lists and labels. The product was produced on various dates between Feb. 21 and 23 and March 3 and 5. (Garcia, 5/20)
NPR: Virtual Workouts Spiked During The Pandemic. Can The Trend Last?
At the height of the pandemic, when going to the gym wasn't an option, millions of people began exploring virtual workouts from home for the first time. And many of them now say they won't go back. While this is clearly a boon for the companies developing these systems, it has also helped people who don't feel comfortable in a gym or don't have time to get there. Linda Munson, 56, who lives in Berlin, Conn., has worked a desk job from home since the initial COVID shutdown in 2020. "I was packing on the pounds," she admits. Munson's never been much of a gym person. "I am very socially awkward. I get anxious going out. I probably would ... walk in the gym and sign up for a membership and then not go," she says. (Fulton, 5/22)
KHN: The New MADD Movement: Parents Rise Up Against Drug Deaths
Life as he knew it ended for Matt Capelouto two days before Christmas in 2019, when he found his 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, dead in her childhood bedroom in Temecula, California. Rage overtook grief when authorities ruled her death an accident. The college sophomore, home for the holidays, had taken half a pill she bought from a dealer on Snapchat. It turned out to be fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that helped drive drug overdose deaths in the U.S. to more than 100,000 last year. “She was poisoned, and nothing was going to happen to the person who did it,” he said. “I couldn’t stand for that.” (Scheier, 5/23)
KHN: Caskets Wrapped In Colorful Images Pay Tribute To Young Lives Lost To Trauma And Violence
Calyia Stringer had a smile on her face the day she posed for a photo with a yellow flower in her hand. The toddler beamed with pride as she showed off the bloom before handing it to her godmother, Jatoria Foster. “She was so happy,” Foster said. “That was one of the best memories I have of her.” No one thought the same image would end up on the lid of Calyia’s casket — until the unthinkable happened. The 3-year-old was killed last September when a stray bullet tore through her grandmother’s bedroom in East St. Louis, Illinois. For Calyia’s funeral, her family wanted to remember the happiest moments of her life, so the funeral home decorated her casket with three photos of the girl. (Anthony, 5/23)
