JONEL ALECCIA

FILE - Cookies cool on a table on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, in Enid, Okla. Holiday meals may be changing for millions of Americans struggling with obesity and taking a new generation of weight-loss drugs in 2023. Experts and consumers say the drugs are shifting dining habits and social norms around food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving, Passover and Christmas. (Bonnie Vculek/The Enid News & Eagle via AP, File)

New obesity medications change how users think of holiday meals

Holiday meals may be changing for millions of Americans struggling with obesity and taking a new generation of weight-loss drugs.

Salmonella in cantaloupes sickens dozens in 15 states, U.S. health officials say

U.S. health officials said at least 43 people have been sickened in 15 states by salmonella linked to certain whole and cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit products.

The FDA is screening US cinnamon imports after more kids are sickened by lead-tainted applesauce

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is screening imports of cinnamon from multiple countries for toxic lead.

FILE - A seventh grader carries her plate which consists of three bean chili, rice, mandarins, cherry tomatoes and baked chips during her lunch break at a public school in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Experts agree that the urgency of climate change and the demands of a surging global population call for an overhaul of how humans get their protein. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Eating less meat would be good for the Earth. Small nudges can change behavior

One of the thorniest problems of the 21st century is how to get people to eat less meat. A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most U.S. adults said they eat meat at least several times a week.

Nearly two dozen toddlers sickened by lead linked to tainted applesauce pouches, CDC says

U.S. health officials are warning doctors to be on the lookout for possible cases of lead poisoning in children.

This image provided by Novo Nordisk in January 2023, shows packaging for the company's Wegovy medication. According to a study published Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in the New England Journal of Medicine, the popular weight-loss drug reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20%, and could change the way doctors treat certain heart patients. (Novo Nordisk via AP)

Obesity drug Wegovy cut risk of serious heart problems by 20%, study finds

A new large study finds that the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20% in certain patients.

This image provided by Eli Lilly on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 shows packaging for their new drug Zepbound. The new version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. (Eli Lilly via AP)

A new version of the diabetes drug Mounjaro can be used for weight loss, FDA says

Federal regulators say a new version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug.

FILE - Tablets of ibuprofen are arranged for a photograph in New York on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017. In 2023, more than 40% of American adults are considered obese, but the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies. That’s because they are not required to be included in drug studies. Even a drug as common as ibuprofen, sold as Advil, may not relieve pain in people at higher weights when taken as directed, research shows. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

Drugs aren’t required to be tested in people who are obese. Here’s why that’s a problem

More than 40% of American adults are considered obese, yet the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies.

This photo provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 28, 2023, shows a WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouch. The FDA is warning parents and caregivers not to buy or serve certain pureed fruit pouches marketed to toddlers and young children because the food might contain dangerous levels of lead. Children who have eaten WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should be tested for possible lead poisoning, the agency said. (FDA via aP)

More fruit pouches for kids are being recalled because of illnesses that are linked to lead

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received more reports of illness linked to lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children.

FILE - Milk cartons are displayed at a high school cafeteria in Los Angeles on May 3, 2011. A shortage of half-pint milk cartons is affecting school meals in cafeterias across the U.S. in 2023. School officials from New York to California are scrambling for backup options after a main supplier of cartons said demand has outstripped supply. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Milk carton shortage hits school lunchrooms in New York, California and other states, USDA says

A shortage of half-pint milk cartons is affecting school meals in cafeterias across the U.S. School officials from New York to California are scrambling for backup options after a main supplier of cartons said demand has outstripped supply.

FDA says WanaBana fruit puree pouches may contain dangerous levels of lead

Health officials are warning that WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches may contain dangerous levels of lead. The U.S.

FILE - A sign for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is displayed outside their offices in Silver Spring, Md., Dec. 10, 2020. On Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, the FDA warned health care providers and the public about injuries and at least one death in premature infants who were given probiotic products in the hospital. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FDA warns about giving probiotics to preterm babies after infant death, other injuries

Federal officials are warning health care providers and the public about injuries and at least one death in premature infants who were given probiotic products in the hospital.

Bagged, precut onions linked to salmonella outbreak that has sickened 73 people in 22 states

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to bagged, precut onions recalled by a California firm has sickened at least 73 people in 22 states, including 15 who were hospitalized.

FILE - A can of toddler nutritional drink sits on a shelf in a grocery store in Surfside, Fla., on Friday, June 17, 2022. Powdered drink mixes that are widely promoted as “toddler milks” for older babies and children up to age 3 are unregulated, unnecessary and “nutritionally incomplete,” the American Academy of Pediatrics warned Friday, Oct. 20, 2023 (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

So-called toddler milks are unregulated and unnecessary, a major pediatrician group says

A pediatricians’ group is warning powdered drink mixes known as “toddler milks” are unregulated, unnecessary and nutritionally incomplete.

FILE - A sign for Eli Lilly & Co. stands outside their corporate headquarters in Indianapolis on April 26, 2017. Zepbound, a new version of the company's popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug, U.S. regulators announced Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Drug used in diabetes treatment Mounjaro helped dieters shed 60 pounds, study finds

A new study finds that the medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight.

FILE - A sign for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is displayed outside their offices, Dec. 10, 2020, in Silver Spring, Md. The FDA declined to approve a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions late Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, calling for more research on what would have been the first alternative to injections using devices such as an EpiPen. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FDA says it needs more research before deciding to approve nasal spray to treat dangerous allergies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, calling for more research on what would have been the first alternative to injections using devices such as an EpiPen.

Rocks, insects, plastic and other foreign objects often end up in our food. Here’s how it happens

Recent food recalls have been spurred by foreign objects like rocks, insects and plastic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says this type of contamination is one of the top reasons for food recalls.

FILE - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, Springsteen announced that he's postponing a series of September concerts on the advice of doctors treating him for peptic ulcer disease. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)

Bruce Springsteen has peptic ulcer disease. Doctors say it’s easily treated

Bruce Springsteen says he needs to postpone concerts this month because of peptic ulcer disease. That’s a condition marked by open sores that develop on the inside lining of the stomach.

FILE - This colorized 2006 scanning electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows E. coli bacteria of the O157:H7 strain that produces a powerful toxin which can cause illness. Health officials are investigating an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning among students at the University of Arkansas in late August 2023, with dozens reporting symptoms and several needing treatment in the hospital. (Janice Haney Carr/CDC via AP, File)

Five people hospitalized in E. coli outbreak at the University of Arkansas

Health officials are investigating an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to the University of Arkansas.

FILE - Instruments sit on a table in an operating room June 15, 2023, in Jackson, Tenn. Patients who take blockbuster drugs like Wegovy for weight loss may face life-threatening complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia. In June 2023, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued guidance advising patients to skip daily weight-loss medications on the day of surgery and hold off on weekly injections for a week before any sedation procedures. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Patients taking blockbuster drugs like Wegovy for weight loss may face potentially deadly complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia.

FILE - A notification for sesame is printed under the ingredient list on a bag of hot dog buns in New York, on Dec. 21, 2022. Food manufacturers who deliberately add sesame to their products and include it on the labels are not violating a new federal law, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

Sesame is being newly added to some foods. The FDA says it doesn’t violate an allergy law

Food manufacturers who deliberately add sesame to their products and include it on their labels are not violating a new federal allergy law. That’s according to the U.S.

FILE - Ground beef is displayed for sale, April 1, 2017, at a market in Washington. Federal health officials said Tuesday, July 25, 2023, that ground beef contaminated with salmonella has sickened at least 16 people, including six hospitalized, in four Northeastern states. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Salmonella in ground beef sickens 16, hospitalizing 6, in 4 states, CDC says

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says ground beef contaminated with salmonella has sickened at least 16 people in four Northeastern states.

FILE - Lisa Marie Presley arrives at the 46th annual Country Music Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 1, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. Presley died Jan. 12, 2023, at age 54. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

How Lisa Marie Presley’s weight-loss surgery contributed to her death

A severe complication from weight-loss surgery done years ago is the reason for Lisa Marie Presley’s death in January at age 54.

FILE - A bottle of soda is photographed in Washington Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization, deemed aspartame, the world’s most widely used artificial sweetener, to be “possibly carcinogenic” to humans. Separately, a U.N. expert group assessing the same evidence said their guidance regarding safe consumption of the sweetener remained unchanged. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)

Soda sweetener aspartame now listed as possible cancer cause. But it’s still considered safe

The World Health Organization’s cancer agency has deemed the artificial sweetener aspartame a “possible” cause of cancer, while a separate group looking at the same evidence said it still considers the sugar substitute safe.

FILE - Baby formula is displayed on the shelves of a grocery store in Carmel, Ind. on May 10, 2022. U.S. health officials will start formally tracking infections caused by the rare but potentially deadly germ that sickened babies and triggered a nationwide shortage of infant formula in 2022. A group that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed Thursday, June 29, 2023, to add infections caused by cronobacter to the list of serious conditions reported to the agency. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Deadly germ behind infant formula shortage joins CDC watchlist of bad bugs

Federal health officials will start formally tracking infections caused by the rare but potentially deadly germ that sickened babies and triggered a nationwide shortage of infant formula last year.

FILE - This Tuesday, April 3, 2018 file photo shows a closeup of a beam scale in New York. High-dose oral versions of the medication in the weight-loss drug Wegovy may work as well as injections at paring pounds and improving health, including hard-to-treat people with diabetes, according to research released Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

No more needles? A daily pill may work as well as Wegovy shots to treat obesity

Losing significant amounts of weight may soon be as easy as taking a daily pill. New research released Sunday shows high-dose oral versions of the medication in the blockbuster drugs Ozepmic and Wegovy may work as well as the popular injections — even in hard-to-treat people with diabetes.

Chef Zach Tyndall prepares Good Meat's cultivated chicken at the Eat Just office in Alameda, Calif., Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The Agriculture Department issued final approvals Wednesday, June 21 to California firms Upside Foods and Good Meat to sell the products, known as “lab grown” or “cultivated” meat. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Is it chicken? Here’s how the first bite of ‘cell-cultivated’ meat tastes

AP health reporter JoNel Aleccia taste-tested “cell-cultivated” meat made by two California firms that were the first to get U.S.