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STAT+: Makary’s first speech to FDA staff focuses on challenging norms, fighting chronic disease

STAT

WASHINGTON — Marty Makary’s first address to staff as FDA commissioner on Wednesday afternoon sounded a bit like an introduction to one of his books.  Makary sprinkled in anecdotes intended to stir emotion, recounting the time when his father gave a cancer patient a hug at the grocery store.

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Q&A: How gluten-free processed foods put people with celiac disease at risk

STAT

Gluten-free bagels, brownie mixes, and frozen burritos beckon from grocery store shelves. People with celiac disease face a food paradox. Yet despite this abundance, they can’t trust that these foods are actually safe to eat.

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STAT+: Q&A: FDA chief on why our hearts are less healthy, how obesity drugs impress him, and what worries him

STAT

In a recent conversation with STAT, though, he invoked his role as a grandfather, challenged in a grocery store checkout line to resist the ultra-processed foods marketed to American children and adults.    “What do they have right as you’re trying to check out? All of the junk food,” he said.

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STAT+: The FDA is testing new nutrition labels on the front of food packages

STAT

WASHINGTON — The FDA wants to make it easier for consumers to know if the foods they’re buying are unhealthy — but doing so is harder than it seems here in the United States. which could soon line grocery store shelves. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill

STAT

For the first time, people will now be able to readily purchase birth control online and at pharmacies, convenience stores, and grocery stores without a prescription, a requirement that has been seen as a hurdle to greater access to contraception.

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STAT+: A 50-year battle over one additive highlights FDA’s challenges with food safety

STAT

Restaurants and grocery stores, like Panera, Whole Foods, and Kroger, have banned all foods with brominated vegetable oil as well. Pepsi and Coca Cola both pledged to stop using the ingredient, which can help keep soda flavoring from rising to the top of a bottle, nearly a decade ago. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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FDA approves first ever OTC birth control pills

The Checkup by Singlecare

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill , Opill (norgestrel), on July 13. According to the FDA, there are 3 million unintended pregnancies in the U.S. Today’s FDA decision is a historic moment for health equity, sexual health, and reproductive rights. … Who can take Opill?

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