Health Highlights: May 6, 2014

Health Highlights: May 6, 2014

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Coca-Cola to Eliminate Controversial Substance From Beverages

A controversial ingredient will be removed from many of Coca-Cola’s citrus-flavored drinks, the company says.

The move is in response to consumers’ concerns about brominated vegetable oil, which contains bromine, an element found in flame retardants, The New York Times reported.

The beverages that contain the substance include Fresca, some varieties of Fanta, and some fountain drinks.

Coca-Cola said that brominated vegetable oil will be replaced with sucrose acetate isobutyrate and/or glycerol ester of rosin. The first is common in beverages, and the second is used in gum, The Times reported.

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Baby Gate-Related Injuries on the Rise: Study

Nearly 2,000 children aged 6 years and younger are treated each year in U.S. hospital emergency departments for injuries suffered after falling through or climbing on baby gates, a new study says.

It also found that the number of baby gate-related injuries rose from about 4 per 100,000 children in 1990 to nearly 13 per 100,000 in 2010, the Associated Press reported.

Most of the injuries were not serious, according to the study published online Monday in the journal Academic Pediatrics.

The researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said their findings show that parents need to take precautions when using baby gates. For example, they should use bolted gates, not pressure-mounted ones, at the top of the stairs, the AP reported.