Some local Lap-Band patients will have to wait for their new lives to begin, as two L.A. outpatient clinics have temporarily halted the surgeries. The 1-800-GET-THIN marketing campaign has fallen under much scrutiny in recent months, including state and federal investigations. As a result, both local clinics are conducting a review of the procedure. more ›

Just a day after the FDA said that Lap-Band surgical centers and marketers needed more truth in its advertising about the hazards of weight loss surgery, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said it was stepping in to see if it could do anything to address the issue. more ›

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced they have issued warning letters to eight California surgical centers and the marketing firm 1-800-GET-THIN LLC because their advertising for the Lap-Band surgical device is misleading. more ›

No one's reported getting sick yet, but a finished package of spinach tested as likely tainted with salmonella in Washington, and bagged greens-maker Taylor Farms has issued a voluntary, precautionary recall of 3,265 cases of several of their salad blends. more ›

The hysteria over listeria continues, and now there's a new culprit: shredded romaine lettuce. California's True Leaf Farms is voluntarily recalling 2,498 cartons of shredded romaine that may have been contaminated with listeria, according to the FDA. That's the same contaminant that has been linked to the deaths of 15 people who ate cantaloupes from Colorado tainted with the organism. more ›

A recent health scare connected to contaminated cantaloupe has reached California, as an outbreak of Listeria has caused 35 people in 11 states, including ours, to become ill. Four deaths have been associated with the illness. more ›

Ladies of Los Angeles, take heed: your reproductive precautions may have been compromised. According to a statement released by the FDA, several kinds of birth control made by QU pharmaceuticals are being recalled due to a packaging error. In certain lots of products, the blisters -- the plastic bubbles that house each pill -- were rotated, meaning that they no longer line up with the correct day. more ›

The graphic new images poised to adorn American cigarette packs next year are meant to warn smokers and would-be smokers of the health dangers associated with the habit. However a few large U.S. tobacco companies say the new labels will just plain scare their customers away from cigarettes, and they've filed a suit against the federal government. more ›

Don't dip! Fresh Food Concepts, Inc. is voluntarily recalling a variety of Layer Dip products containing guacamole over concerns that the avocados used may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to the FDA. more ›

After an organism known to cause anything from a severe headache to death was found in one bag, Fresh & Easy has issued a recall of Organic Baby Spinach with the Enjoy by date of August 1, according to a statement from the FDA. The recall was made out of "an abundance of caution," according to the statement, since the organism was found in only one bag as part of a random testing procedure. more ›

In a report issued Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration gave renewed assurance about the safety of silicone breast implants with "preliminary results from follow-up studies it required from manufacturers, including Irvine-based Allergan, when it ended a moratorium on sales of silicone gel-filled breast implants in November 2006," according to the OC Register. more ›

You can't smoke on many restaurant patios, in some apartments, and in several parks and public spaces in the greater Los Angeles area, but if you are still die-hard about the habit, just a heads up that come September, your pack of cigarettes is going to have one of nine new graphic warning images approved by the U.S. Department of Health. more ›

Grape tomatoes supplied to Tracy, CA-based company Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. have been recalled by grower Six L's after it was discovered they may be contaminated with Salmonella, reports the Food and Drug Administration. The recalled tomatoes were used in a variety of Taylor Farms prepared/packaged salad products with sell-by dates between April 27 and May 9. more ›

A true upstart, on this day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Viagra, an oral medication that treats impotence, recalls History.com. Putting the fun in erectile dysfunction, Sildenafil, the chemical name for Viagra, was originally created to treat high blood pressure and angina. Insert joke here. more ›

When you think about effective treatments for pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, COPD, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis and respiratory viral conditions, you might likely thing that a good place to start is a medical professional. A few years ago, however, you could have been one of Sami Arshak Yanikian's customers, who bought some of his “Sam’s Inhaler Spray For Viral Respiratory Infections” and “Sam’s Universal Oral Spray," or other bogus products claiming they could cure illnesses, including bird flu, tuberculosis and SARS. more ›

Hot hair may now be hazardous to your health. Brazilian Blowout, the latest trend in celebrity hair straightening, is looking less than glamourous to the Food and Drug Administration as they investigate complaints of headaches, skin irritation, eye irritation and respiratory problems that may be linked to the carcinogen formaldehyde. more ›

A second Iowa-based company has initiated a recall of 170 million of their eggs that may be tainted, according to an AP Report. "The eggs recalled Friday were distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek. The new recall applies to eggs sold between April and August." These eggs were sold in California, among other states. more ›

Although perhaps a certain segment of the population believes he should be throwing red paint on fur-coated old ladies and boycotting West Hollywood restaurants that serve foie gras, President Obama has actually been doing a pretty good job heeding Michael Pollan's call to real action within the American food industry. more ›

The FDA has said the Georgia peanut plant that is the focus of the salmonella recall knowingly sent out tainted products, according to an e-mail breaking news alert from the LA Times, who noted the plant had not gone through an inspection since 2001. The FDA is also under fire for recalling incorrect products in the past and being too slow with the peanut butter one. One representative has proposed a bill that would create a food-dedicated agency that would separate it from drugs and medical devices. more ›

The salmonella peanut butter recall is still in effect and one of Los Angeles' favorite grocery stores had to pull back a few products, too. Trader Joe's late last week announced that they were taking caution and de-shelving their Peanut Butter Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars, Nutty Chocolate Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars and Sutter’s Formula Cookies "because the products contain peanut butter that was manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which is the focus of an ongoing Salmonella investigation," they said in a press release. more ›

Nancy Luna, otherwise known as the Fast Food Maven at the OC Register, has developed a true appreciation for tomatoes in the midst of the latest food recall. A recent trip to El Pollo Loco inspired this realization: more ›

It sounds like the plot of a Charlton Heston film from the 70's, but the possibility of meat from cloned livestock has become a reality. more ›

If you're anything like us and still incorporate large quantities of instant ramen noodles into your diet (is that shameful for a food writer to admit?), this morning's news might cause more than a little worry. We woke to our local news broadcasters discussing yet another American health worry: salt. Apparently Americans consume 50% too much salt in their diet, much of it locked up in processed and canned foods, and the FDA is... more ›