Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Dole Italian Blend Salad Recalled
Possible Listeria contamination has led to the recall of 1,039 cases of Dole Italian Blend bagged salads that were shipped to eight U.S. states, California-based Dole Fresh Vegetables announced Wednesday.
The company said the bagged salads — which contain romaine lettuce and radicchio — were distributed to Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia, CBS News reported.
The recalled bags of salad have a Use-By date of Aug. 20 and UPC number 7143000819.
The recall was triggered after the North Carolina Department of Agriculture detected Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in a randomly selected sample of the product. No illnesses have been reported.
Listeria monocytogenes can cause the foodborne illness listeriosis and is especially dangerous to the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, CBS News reported.
For more information, consumers can call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center at 1-800-356-3111, between 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday.
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Armstrong Gives Up Fight Against U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
American cyclist Lance Armstrong has given up his fight against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
Armstrong, long the subject of doping rumors, chose not to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him by the USADA, the Associated Press reported.
USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart said Armstrong would lose his Tour de France titles as soon as Friday and would be given a lifetime ban from cycling. Armstrong, who turns 41 next month, is retired from the sport.
Even though the International Cycling Union backed Armstrong’s legal challenge to USADA’s authority, Tygart said the UCI signed the World Anti-Doping Code and was “bound to recognize our decision and impose” the penalties against Armstrong, the AP reported.
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Tainted Cantaloupe Investigation Continuing: FDA
After announcing that a farm in southwestern Indiana was the source of at least some of the cantaloupes involved in an salmonella outbreak, health officials said they are still trying to determine whether there are other sources.
The outbreak has infected at least 178 people in 21 states. Sixty-two people have been hospitalized and there have been two deaths.
Late Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified Chamberlain Farms of Owensville, Ind. as one source of salmonella-tainted cantaloupes. However, the Food and Drug Administration says the investigation is still in the early stages and it is too soon to say whether all the contaminated cantaloupes came from that farm, the Associated Press reported.
There is disagreement between federal and state officials on whether it is safe to eat melons from southwestern Indiana. Due to the ongoing investigation, the FDA says consumers should discard any cantaloupes grown in the area or bought on or after July 7.
However, state officials say cantaloupes from Chamberlain Farms should be discarded but cantaloupes from other farms are safe to eat as long as they are thoroughly washed and cut with clean knives and cutting boards, the AP reported.
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