Health, Food Poisoning | featured news

Federal health officials say at least 16 people in five states have been sickened by salmonella food poisoning linked to ground beef. No one has died, but half were hospitalized. Most of the illnesses have been in Michigan, but a few cases were scattered in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

A suburban Denver man who was diagnosed with "popcorn lung," possibly from inhaling the artificial butter smell of the microwave popcorn he regularly ate, has won a $7.2 million verdict against various food companies.

Food-borne illnesses, such as E. coli and salmonella, not only take a toll on American consumers' health, they cost the United States $152 billion annually in health care and other losses, according to a report released Wednesday by a food safety group.

Lovers of oysters on the half shell may want to indulge now, while they can. A new Food and Drug Administration plan to cut deaths from one of the deadliest types of food poisoning means that soon, live U.S.-grown oysters will become much harder to find from May to October.