Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

L.A. County Meningitis Stats Raise More Questions -- County Only Recently Began Tracking Sexual Orientation

Updated at the bottom: Health experts say only some types of bacterial meningitis are spread person-to-person, these types are not as contagious as flu and are not sexually transmitted. The CDC says there is no increased risk among gays and no rationale for county officials to alter their approach. ... More >>

Salt Linked to 2.3 Million Deaths Annually

It's the ultimate salt vs. sugar smackdown! On Monday we reported that sugary drinks have been linked to 180,000 deaths worldwide annually. Now a new report presented at a conference yesterday says that eating too much salt kills 2.3 million people every year, CBS News reports. Researchers looked ... More >>

Gage Middle School Students in L.A. Suburb Fight Back with Kale and Yoga after Being Dubbed California's Fattest Kids

Huntington Park was dubbed the city with the fattest kids in California in 2012, which prompted students and faculty at heavily Latino Gage Middle School in Huntington Park to team up and try slim down the student body's bodies. After an article posted by L.A. Weekly and headlined "Huntington Park ... More >>

Tuberculosis Outbreak's Federal Help In DTLA Could Be Hampered By Sequester

Federal health officials planning to help out with a Skid Row tuberculosis outbreak might be foiled by the federal budget impasse. That according to Los Angeles County's director of public health Jonathan Fielding, who told reporters today that the federal "sequester" that would impose deep cuts on ... More >>

'Duh' Study of the Week: Living Near Bars Increases Drinking

As you wait in line to cast your ballot, here's some food for thought about your tax dollars at work. Oh wait, make that Finnish tax dollars. Still, something to keep in mind as you consider which candidate might be more likely to fund silly studies. Researchers in Finland have discovered that liv ... More >>

The Bay Review: Barry Levinson Mimics an Amateur YouTube Documentarian

Peanut Butter Recall Expands to Just About Everything

The peanut butter recall that began innocently enough with one Trader Joe's brand has expanded exponentially and now includes everything from crackers and cookies to gelato and tahini, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Almost 300 products have now been recalled in what the FDA is callin ... More >>

Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Smoked Salmon

Salmonella has nothing to do with salmon. Until now. Smoked salmon tainted with the bacteria has sickened hundreds of people in the Netherlands and the United States, sparking a major recall, the Associated Press reports. (Fascinating fact: The genus Salmonella was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon, a ... More >>

[Updated] Multistate Listeria Outbreak Triggers Cheese Recall

Update: 9/12, 10:50 a.m. The CDC is now reporting at least one death in connection with the Listeria outbreak related to imported cheese, according to USA Today. Three deaths total have been reported among those who were sickened after eating Frescolina ricotta salata, but Listeria has not been con ... More >>

Meatball Co. Recalls 325,000 Pounds of Frozen Meat

New Jersey-based meatball-maker Buona Vita Inc. is recalling nearly 325,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products due to possible Listeria contamination, CBS News reports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Saturday that the r ... More >>

Proposition 29 Cigarette Tax

Why it may fail in liberal California

Campbell's to Phase Out BPA in Cans

Campbell's Soup Co. has announced that it soon will stop using the notorious chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, in the linings of its cans, the Environmental Working Group reports. The move comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is poised to decide by March 31 whether to ban the chemical's use in ... More >>

Top 10 Food-Related Lawsuits of 2011

Taco BellTaco Bell gives thanks for being sued over the contents of its meat​A look at this year through the lens of the food-related lawsuits is like watching the first season of The Killing: an exercise in frustration, bewilderment, and, occasionally, excitement. From the mother who sued N ... More >>

Study Suggests Flour the Culprit in Cookie Dough Illnesses

Flickr/WonderlaneMake sure you cook your cookies​ Last week we reported on a new study that implicated raw chocolate chip cookie dough as the cause of a large outbreak of E. coli in 2009. Researchers said it was the first time an outbreak of food poisoning caused by the dangerous Shiga toxin-p ... More >>

City Council Unanimously Passes Occupy L.A. Resolution -- Protesters Struggle to Distance Themselves From Democrats, Unions

Los Angeles TimesCity Council President Eric Garcetti shows his support.​Just now, the L.A. City Council unanimously approved a joint resolution to officially "support" the Occupy L.A. demonstration and "demand accountability and results from the banks we invest taxpayer dollars in." (Full tex ... More >>

Contagion Review

Steven Soderbergh turns the star-studded disaster flick on its head

Crying Over Spilt Milk: Rawesome Volunteer Speaks Out on Yesterday's Raid Protest Rally

Tambako/Flickr​More details are emerging about yesterday morning's raid on Rawesome, a members-only raw food collective whose owner was arrested and jailed for the heinous crime of peddling raw milk. Most absurd and appalling is the fact that the raid was the result of a year-long undercover o ... More >>

Cops Raid Rawesome Foods; Owner James Stewart Arrested

Amy ScattergoodAuthorities raid Rawesome Foods in Venice, Calif.​[Update, 2:36 p.m.: The official word from the DA's office is that Stewart, Palmer & Bloch were arrested on criminal conspiracy charges stemming from the alleged illegal production and sale of unpasteurized goat milk, goat cheese ... More >>

Anti-Abortion Billboards to Pregnant L.A. Latinas: 'The Most Dangerous Place for a Latino Is in the Womb'

Unidosporlavida.org.mx​Happy hump day, everybody! Here's what's in store for your commute home: An extremist group of religious right-wingers from Mexico City has erected a pro-life billboard at the corner of Figueroa Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in South Los Angeles [OC Weekly ... More >>

Megaraves in the News

L.A. County Sees First West Nile Virus Case Of Season

​The first West Nile Virus case for the 2010 season has been reported in Los Angeles County, according to the county's director of public health. A teenager came down with the virus in mid-August and has since recovered, the county reports. "West Nile Virus is primarily spread through mosquit ... More >>

L.A. Is In The Top 10....For Bedbug Infestation.

​Proving once again that the Weekly is your place for bedbug news. According to exterminator Terminix, Los Angeles ranked No. 10 in bedbug infestation nationwide, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. At least we're not New York, which leads the country in bedbugs. Bedbugs are small, delightfu ... More >>

Serpentine May Be Stripped Of Official California State Rock Status Because It Contains Abestos

​According to the Associated Press, Democratic state Senator Gloria Romero of East Los Angeles is proposing dropping serpentine, a jade-green rock, as California's official state rock because it contains asbestos. Asbestos, which causes a cancer called mesthelioma, was heavily mined in the U ... More >>

The 10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Barf, According to the CDC

​ With recent food-borne illness outbreaks linked to alfalfa sprouts and romaine lettuce, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has re-released its list of what the group calls the top 10 riskiest foods regulated by the FDA, based on cases of illness reported to the Centers for Diseas ... More >>

Chinese Girls and Fat Mexican Kids

Cheap Mexican Labor? Marry a Teenage Mexicana

Is a Fat Tax the Solution to California's Economic Woes?

Americans are fat, and they are getting fatter. A recent study by the Urban Institute and the University of Virginia says that unless consumption patterns change, 40 percent of the country's population will be overweight or obese by 2015. Even here in the Golden State, where body image is so importa ... More >>

Phil Spector Moved to Corcoran State Prison

The Associated Press' Linda Deutsch reports this afternoon that music producer legend and Phil Spectorconvicted murderer Phil Spector has been assigned to California's largest lockup, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, in Corcoran. Spector, 69, was transferred Monday ... More >>

Nestle Recalling Cookie Dough: Make Your Own Damn Cookies

Nestle USA Nestle's cookie baking instructionsNestle is issuing a voluntary recall of raw Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough, after the FDA and the CDC began investigating E. coli illnesses possibly relating to the product. A number of consumers reportedly became sick after consuming raw Toll H ... More >>

Swine Flu Notes: Where's the Pork?

We're one week into L.A.'s chapter of the swine flu pandemic/panic and already people are asking, "Where's the pork?" Raised on bio-disaster movies and braced for the worst upon hearing of Mexico's initial death toll, Angelenos were expecting (not, I should stress, hoping) to see bodies in the stree ... More >>

Outbreak: Swine Flu Update

UPDATE: The L.A. County Coroner's Office is beginning to rule out swine flu as the cause of the Orange County man's death (see below), while announcing that swine flu is not suspected in the case of the Long Beach victim. Autopsies and final rulings are still pending. The L.A. Times reports that cou ... More >>

Straight Men Who Have Sex With Men

Inside the secret world of the straight guise

The God of Sperm

In an industry veiled in secrecy, a powerful L.A. sperm peddler shapes the nation’s rules on disease, genetics — and accidental incest

Gay Syphilis Scourge Skyrockets

County officials dawdle, leisurely launching another questionable ad campaign

The Scourge of Skid Row

A staph infection threatens the lives of cops, firefighters and homeless people. But don’t expect any help from county health officials

Five Degrees of Separation

A chicken-farming primer for city slackers

The Prison King

During “Z” ’s rule, his favorite white inmates got drugs, weapons and the freedom to roam

Gonorrhea Gorgonzola

System of a Down’s fourth album, Mezmerize, is some crazy-ass bring-your-own-bong-style shit

The Terrorists Within

Be afraid, be very afraid

From Baghdad to Buffalo

The saga of Steven Kurtz’s bacteria

Big Beef’s Dirty War

Meat industry has resisted cleaning up its act for decades

Letters

Made in the USA, Part III: The Dishonor Roll

America’s corporate merchants of death in Iraq

Sad Song

And the Band Played On has its 10-year anniversary

The Patronage Game

Bush’s end run around Roe

Shrieking in Cyberspace

Relax. Your computer’s fine. We’re only blowing billions on an overhyped terror threat

Black AIDS: 'Our People, Our Problem, Our Solution'

Pro and Condoms

West Hollywood voters to decide on bar plan

Public Health

Guns Dot Com