Public Health

With both obesity and fiscal austerity on the rise, makers of unhealthy foods are a tempting target for taxation. While companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald's are most obviously in the sights of the food police, the rest of the food industry may be vulnerable as well.

Communities such as New York City and San Francisco have mandated more overt nutrition labeling on fast food in hopes that, with information, people will make better choices on what they eat. Sadly, a new study of people in an area where this mandate is already in effect found that better...

A new study indicates that alcohol is far more harmful than illegal drugs such as crack cocaine, heroin, or marijuana, based on an analysis of both direct health effects and indirect costs to society as a whole.

New York City is embarking on the "second phase" of its campaign against soda, although skeptics may say it's a Quixotic attempt to reform the public's love affair with Coke and Pepsi. The city's health department this week released a video depicting what it says is the effect of drinking...

Swine flu is being billed as a potential killer this winter, but health officials still tell us the best public defense is washing our hands. Everyone should get H1N1 flu shots, the feds say, yet media reports warn there may not be enough vaccine. Some suggest the seasonal flu shot actually...

More than two months after America was first being deluged with news that salmonella-tainted peanut products were scattered throughout the nation's food supply, the list of potentially dangerous products is still growing. At least 15 more products were added to the list in the past week and at...