Tuesday, July 8th, 2014
Those sunscreen sprays may be handy, but could they be dangerous for your kids? That’s the concern behind an ongoing Food and Drug Administration investigation, which is looking into whether inhaling the spray ingredients could be harmful to your health.
And that’s why Consumer Reports is now recommending that you don’t use sunscreen spray on the kids, until the investigation is complete. (And the American Academy of Dermatology also raises concerns.) “We now say that until the FDA completes its analysis, the products should generally not be used by or on children,” says Consumer Reports. “We have also removed one sunscreen spray — Ocean Potion Kids Instant Dry Mist SPF 50 — from the group of recommended sunscreens in our sunscreen Ratings, because it is marketed especially for children.”
Another concern with sunscreen spray cited by the the American Academy of Dermatology is that it’s harder to tell if you’ve put on enough when you’re spraying it, so you may be more likely to underapply.
If you just stocked up on sunscreen spray, you don’t have to toss it out. You can safely apply it by spraying it into your own hand, away from your child, and then slather it on with your hands.
Not sure if you’re keeping your kids covered? Test your sun safety savvy.
Image: Woman and sunscreen by racorn/Shutterstock.com
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Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has called on the federal government to make the containers that hold liquid refills for electronic cigarettes–the containers essentially contain liquid nicotine–to be required to have child-proof caps just like medications and other potentially hazardous substances. Schumer cited a sharply rising number of reported accidental poisonings when children ingest the liquid, with 70 poisonings reported in New York so far this year, compared to just 46 such incidents in all of 2013.
So-called “e-cigarettes,” which contain nicotine but no tobacco tar or smoke, are getting the attention of parents, doctors, and policymakers nationwide. The FDA is currently considering a ban on their use by minors amid findings that show the use of the products by American teenagers has doubled between 2012 and 2013. Further, young people who use e-cigarettes have been found to be less likely to quit smoking traditional cigarettes–and more likely to start.
Examiner.com has more on why Sen. Schumer believes child-proofing e-cigarette refill containers is an important part of solving the problem:
Poisoning can result from swallowing the liquid, inhaling the liquid or absorbing it through the skin or the eyes. Liquid nicotine poisoning can bring on nausea, vomiting, seizures, heart problems and even death.
Because some e-cigarettes are refillable, liquid nicotine is available in separate containers. With flavors such as bubble gum and chocolate, it is easy to understand why the containers are attractive to children.
It is for this reason that Schumer is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include his proposal for child-proof caps and warning labels on the containers in the final draft of the agency’s e-cigarette regulations. The draft is part of the implementation for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that was passed in 2009.
For users of e-cigarettes, the American Association of Poison Control Centers recommends that e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine should always be locked up and out of the reach of children. They also advise anyone using the products to protect their skin from exposure to liquid nicotine.
Image: E-cigarette refills, via Shutterstock
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Tuesday, June 10th, 2014
In the wake of multiple recalls of infant formula in recent years, the federal government has finalized standards that will require manufacturers to test their products for nutritional content as well as possible exposure to germs and bacteria. Earlier this year the new guidelines were announced; they are based on two years’ worth of research, during which time Gerber voluntarily recalled some formula because of a strange odor, and some brands of organic formula were found to contain high levels of inorganic arsenic.
More from Reuters on the finalization and what it means for formula manufacturers–and parents:
While public health officials generally say breast milk is best for babies, they acknowledge that many infants get some or part of their nutrition through formula. The new rule, FDA said, is aimed at establishing so-called “good manufacturing practices” that many companies have already adopted voluntarily.
It also only applies to formula marketed for “for use by healthy infants without unusual medical or dietary problems,” FDA said in a statement.
Under the regulation, companies must screen formula for salmonella, which can cause diarrhea and fever resulting in particularly severe problems for babies. They must also check for cronobacter, known to live in dry conditions such as powdered formula and cause swelling of the brain known as meningitis in infants.
While the FDA does not approve infant formula products before they can be sold, under the rule companies must also test their products’ nutrient content and show that their formulas can “support normal physical growth,” the agency said.
Image: Baby having a bottle, via Shutterstock
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Child Health, Parenting News, Safety
Friday, April 25th, 2014
A proposal by the US Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors is under consideration, news sources are reporting. The new rules would ban sales, but would not prohibit online sales or advertising aimed at minors. More from Reuters:
The long-awaited proposal, which would subject the $2 billion industry to federal regulation for the first time, is not as restrictive as some companies had feared and will likely take years to become fully effective.
Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said the proposal is “positive for industry.”
But public health advocates lamented the fact that the proposal does not take aim at e-cigarette advertising or sweetly-flavored products, which they say risk introducing a new generation of young people to conventional cigarettes when little is known about the long-term health impact of the electronic devices.
“It’s very disappointing because they don’t do anything to rein in the wild-west marketing that is targeting kids,” said Stanton Glantz, a professor at the Center of Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said at a briefing on Wednesday that the proposal represented the first “foundational” step toward broader restrictions if scientific evidence shows they are needed to protect public health.
The number of teenagers who have tried electronic cigarettes has doubled in the past year, and if the ban is approved, the U.S. would join Britain in prohibiting minors from buying the devices.
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Friday, April 11th, 2014
Grocery store shelves have long held products that are labeled “honey” but are actually more like “honey blends” that mix pure honey with cane sugar, corn syrup, or other sweeteners. The Food and Drug Administration has issued new guidelines that will help families know what they’re buying. More from Boston.com:
The Food and Drug Administration issued new guidelines Tuesday that will require companies to label any honey that is not pure, or even food containing this honey, with “blend of sugar and honey” or “blend of honey and corn syrup,” depending on the ingredients. This policy change is the result of organizations like the American Beekeeping Federation and other honey associations petitioning against the common food industry practice of misrepresenting “pure honey.”
So why do we care?
Calorically, honey and sugar have approximately the same amount of calories if you compare teaspoons, said Alicia Romano, a clinical registered dietitian at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center. “But with raw honey you might get more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties. Ultimately, though, the way our bodies break down the two is the same.”
Pure honey is part sugar (glucose and fructose) and part minerals (iron, calcium, phosphate, potassium, magnesium, and sodium chlorine). While many of the medicinal properties attributed to honey require further research, the natural process of honey gives it anti-inflammatory properties that you may miss out on in a sugary substitute.
For example, a 2012 randomized, placebo-controlled study published in the journal Pediatrics found that natural honey (recommended by the World Health Organization as a cough medication) was superior to a placebo in alleviating a night-time cough associated with upper respiratory infections for children older than one year.
But don’t go honey-crazy yet. Sugar (glucose and fructose) still makes up the majority of pure honey.
“Sugar is sugar and should be treated that way,” said Romano. “There’s still a lot of research that needs to be done to compare sugars and additives, but for people who are trying to get away from table sugar and sugar substitutes such as Stevia or Splenda, a teaspoon or two of natural honey added to unsweetened Greek yogurt, on top of oatmeal, and added to smoothies with berries, greens, and yogurt is a way to use honey that’s porton controlled and not adding extra sugar or calories.”
Image: Dripping honey, via Shutterstock
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