Chances are you know at least one person who’s given up eating gluten. Maybe you’ve even given it up yourself. But who can really benefit from a gluten-free diet? “Gluten is one of the main proteins found in wheat, barley and rye,” said Dr. Joseph Levy, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU…  read on >  read on >

A new treatment appears to reduce food allergies in children and teens, according to interim clinical trial results. A lab-made monoclonal antibody called omalizumab (Xolair) significantly increased the amounts of common foods that children could eat without sparking an allergic reaction, the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported. The U.S. Food…  read on >  read on >

Cinnamon samples gathered at a facility in Ecuador linked to tainted applesauce pouches were found to contain levels of toxic lead that were 2,000 times higher than proposed standards, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors. Tests conducted at an Ecuadorean facility run by Austrofoods (maker of the recalled applesauce) found that cinnamon supplied…  read on >  read on >

A person’s toothbrush could be a true lifesaver if they land in a hospital ICU, according to new evidence review. Regular toothbrushing is associated with lower rates of death in the intensive care unit (ICU), shorter lengths of stay, and shorter times spent on a mechanical ventilator, researchers report in the Dec. 18 issue of…  read on >  read on >

Severe obesity appears to be on the rise among young U.S. children, based on data from a federal supplemental nutrition program. About 2% of children between 2 and 4 years of age in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program were severely obese by 2020, a new study reports. That’s about 33,000 of the…  read on >  read on >