IN THIS WEEK'S
ISSUE
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» Question of the Week
FDA OKs Vaccines to be Made for Upcoming Flu Season
FDA has approved flu vaccines from four manufacturers that include new virus strains judged likely to cause flu in the Northern Hemisphere in the upcoming flu season. FDA says the flu vaccine is the best way to prevent the disease. Each year, about 200,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 die from flu complications in the United States.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01423.html
New Method Developed to Identify Hoax Bioterror Incidents
FDA researchers are developing a quick, cost-effective way to distinguish potential hoax materials from real bioterror agents. The new method offers a significant advantage over other available tests, which are more expensive and time consuming. The research was conducted at FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01424.html
Latest 'Patient Safety News' Video
Available Free
Online
FDA has posted the latest edition of "Patient Safety News," a free Web-based video news program aimed primarily at health professionals. The program features information on new drugs, biologics, and medical devices, as well as FDA safety notifications and product recalls.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/psn/index.cfm
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpnews.html.
To access the RSS feed of FDA news releases, go
to
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/rssPress.xml.
[What is an RSS feed? See http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/newsfeeds.html.]
____________________________________________For a
list of recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts involving
FDA-regulated
products from the past 60 days, go to http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html.
Note: FDA has created a free
e-mail list that allows you to receive press releases about recalls of
FDA-regulated products. The list covers only Class 1
(life-threatening) recalls. To sign up, go to http://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=fda-recalls-l&A=1.
To access the RSS feed of FDA recalls information, go
to
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/rssRecalls.xml.
[What is an RSS feed? See http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/newsfeeds.html.]
_____________________________________________
CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY
Aug. 1 -- FDA Acting Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to deliver testimony as part of his confirmation hearing for appointment as FDA commissioner.
http://www.fda.gov/ola/2006/confirmation0801.html
To
view an archive of past testimony by FDA officials, go to
http://www.fda.gov/ola/listing.html
_____________________________________________
UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETINGS
For a list of FDA meetings, seminars, and other public events, go to
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpmeetings.html.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Yes, under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, these foods are exempt from nutrition labeling:
»
food served for
immediate consumption, such as that served in hospital cafeterias and airplanes,
and that sold by food service vendors (such as mall cookie counters, sidewalk
vendors and vending machines);
» ready-to-eat food that is not for
immediate consumption but is prepared primarily on site (such as bakery, deli and candy store
items);
» food shipped in bulk, as long as it
is not for sale in that form to consumers;
» medical foods, such as those used to address the nutritional needs of patients with certain diseases;
» plain coffee and tea, some spices, and other foods that contain no significant amounts of any nutrients.
__________________________________________________
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To learn more about FDA's 100th birthday,
