Most of this newest influx of cases were people who got sick weeks ago but hadn't been counted yet. Some states began doing a better job of checking for salmonella as the outbreak has dragged on, while part of the surge comes from test results that had been backlogged in jammed laboratories. Earlier today, six new illnesses connected to tainted tomatoes were confirmed in New York City.

What hasn't changed is that the earliest known victim got sick on April 10, and the latest on June 5.

But New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reported their first cases, bringing to 30 the number of states - plus Washington, D.C. - that have reported sick residents, although some may have been infected while traveling. At least 48 people have been hospitalized.

It might be impossible to trace the ultimate source of the tainted tomatoes, the Food and Drug Administration's food safety chief warned Wednesday.

Since April, 383 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 30 states and the District of Columbia: Arkansas (2 persons), Arizona (26), California (8), Colorado (2), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (8), Idaho (3), Illinois (34), Indiana (8), Kansas (9), Kentucky (1), Maryland (10), Michigan (3), Missouri (9), New Hampshire (1), New Mexico (70), New York (9), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (5), Oregon (4), Pennsylvania (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (131), Utah (2), Virginia (17), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons is not primarily due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased markedly mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. Among the 243 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 5, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 88 years; 47% are female. At least 48 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

The two main U.S. cloning companies, Viagen Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics, already have produced more than 600 cloned animals for U.S. breeders, including copies of prize-winning cows and rodeo bulls. They agreed to USDA's call for a continued moratorium Tuesday, but stressed that it applied only to clones themselves, not those animals' conventionally produced offspring, which can begin selling immediately.

The FDA spent six years tracking the safety of cloning, and its decision was long expected, but it came after an emotional fight by opponents. Congress passed legislation last month urging further study of the issue, a call echoed by consumer advocates who also asked that foods from cloned animals be labeled as such.

Their objections aren't just about food safety but also include animal welfare since many attempts at livestock cloning still end in fatal birth defects.

"If you have moral objections to a particular food, or ethical objections to them, FDA's saying, 'Tough, you've got to eat it,'" said Carol Tucker-Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America, who pledged to push for more food producers to shun clone-derived ingredients.

"The FDA did not give adequate consideration to the welfare of these animals or their surrogate mothers," said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States.

It's a rare disease, first seen in 1985 in workers in food-flavor factories. In 2002, the disease was seen in workers making microwave popcorn -- in particular, those exposed to a buttery-tasting chemical called diacetyl. There have been many other reports since then, with at least three deaths and many patients awaiting lung transplants.

But Rose's patient had never been exposed to food-flavoring fumes. His only exposure was to the two or more bags of microwave popcorn he consumed every day.

Rose took a team to the man's house and tested the air while microwaving some popcorn. Air levels of diacetyl were similar to those in the area of a microwave popcorn factory where workers were affected.

Many foods other than popcorn contain diacetyl. There's no indication that eating these foods is dangerous. But breathing fumes containing diacetyl appears to be very dangerous.

Microwave popcorn, of course, gives off hot fumes if the bag is opened before the cooked popcorn cools. According to news reports, Rose's patient liked to inhale the aroma of newly popped microwave popcorn. Rose reports that his symptoms stopped getting worse when he stopped making microwave popcorn.

Although the product(s) being recalled should be returned to the point of purchase, consumers preparing other ground beef products should heed the following advice.

Consumers should only eat ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe temperature of 160 °F. When a ground beef patty is cooked to 160 °F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.

The only way to be sure a ground beef patty is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use an accurate food thermometer.

Color is not a reliable indicator that ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

Eating a pink or red ground beef patty without first verifying that the safe temperature of 160 °F has been reached is a significant risk factor for foodborne illness.

Thermometer use to ensure proper cooking temperature is especially important for those who cook or serve ground beef patties to people most at risk for foodborne illness because E. coli O157:H7 can lead to serious illness or even death. Those most at risk include young children, seniors, and those with compromised immune systems.

A man pricked by a live crab he was preparing for dinner died 48 hours later in a rare case of flesh-eating bacteria infection from seafood, a news report said Thursday. Tan Boon Hock, 83, put a bandage on the small cut but began vomiting and suffering diarrhoea hours later. He was rushed to the Accident and Emergency Department of the National University Hospital.

"The doctors told us that he had been infected by a rare flesh-eating bacteria called Vibrio, and ... it was most likely that the crab spread the bacteria to him," The Straits Times quoted son Tan Aik Cheng as saying.

In a bid to prevent the virulent bacteria from spreading throughout his body, doctors amputated the patient's arm, but it was too late.

As a follow-up to the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an extensive inspection of ConAgra's Sylvester, Georgia processing plant. Samples collected by the FDA revealed the presence of Salmonella. The fact that FDA found Salmonella in the plant environment further suggests that the contamination likely took place prior to the product reaching consumers. Last week, tests by several states identified Salmonella in many open jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter recovered from consumers. In these instances, the Salmonella found in the plant and in the open jars matched the outbreak strain recovered from consumers who became ill.

Symptoms of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In persons with poor underlying health or weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections or death. Individuals who have recently eaten peanut butter-containing products from these companies and who have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately and report the illnesses to their state or local health authorities. Similarly, institutional food establishments and other food service providers who have received reports of illness from consumers after they consumed a product containing this peanut butter are encouraged to share that information with their local health department.

Enjoy that Philly cheesesteak but hold the trans fat on the fries, please.

Philadelphia is poised to become the second large American city to ban restaurants from serving trans fats, which doctors say increase the risk of heart disease. A New York ban begins this summer.

The proposed Philadelphia ordinance was approved by the City Council yesterday and Mayor John Street is expected to sign it.

The genes of cattle can be altered to omit a protein that causes the mad cow disease without any adverse effect on the cattle. Scientists at Hematech Inc., a unit of Japanese company Kirin Brewery Co., and the U.S. department of agriculture found that cows bred without the prion protein were healthy at age 20 months and their tissue showed signs of resistance to the brain-destroying disease called bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

The disease is fatal to cows and has also lead to some 200 human deaths in the last 10 years.

The scientists' findings, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, say that the alteration can offer protection to the cattle from the disease, which in turn can completely wipe out the disease. They said the cattle produced with the genetic modification did not have the prions, which is a protein in the nervous system, which when becomes damaged and spreads to an animal's brain tissue causes the collapse of the cow's central nervous system. It leads to the mad cow disease and other related diseases like scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, in humans, the researchers added.

The Harvard School of Public Health reviewed existing studies that looked at the health effects of eating fish.

They concluded eating up to two portions of fish a week was beneficial, and eating fish could cut the risk of death from heart disease by a third.

Experts said the Journal of the American Medical Association findings backed UK recommendations.

The evidence across different studies showed that fish consumption lowers the risk of death from heart disease by 36%.

The reduced rated of heart disease comes, researchers say, from eating about three ounces of farmed salmon or six ounces of mackerel each week.

Lawrence O. Gostin, an associate dean at Georgetown University's law school and director of the Center for Law and the Public's Health, called the proposal "breathtaking."

He said it was sure to prompt a lawsuit challenging the city's authority to enact such a measure. Big fast food companies that use artificial trans fats to prepare french fries, muffins and doughnuts might also sue over the potential impact of the rules on interstate commerce, he said.

"Certainly if there is a local deli in New York that is regulated by the local health department, it is clearly for the city to decide what is safe and what isn't," Gostin said, "But if you're talking about large chains like McDonald's or Burger King ... then there are powerful questions of federalism at stake.

"On the other hand," he added, "when the federal government refuses to act or neglects to act in the face of a major health crisis, then sometimes you need cities and states to step in to the vacuum and protect the public."

The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil.

Artificial trans fats are found in some shortenings, margarine and frying oils and turn up in foods from pie crusts to french fries to doughnuts.

Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden acknowledged that the ban would be a challenge for restaurants, but he said trans fats can easily be replaced with substitute oils that taste the same or better and are far less unhealthy.

"It is a dangerous and unnecessary ingredient," Frieden said. "No one will miss it when it's gone."

Under the New York proposal, restaurants would need to get artificial trans fats out of cooking oils, margarine and shortening by July 1, 2007, and all other foodstuffs by July 1, 2008. It would not affect grocery stores. It also would not apply to naturally occurring trans fats, which are found in some meats and dairy.

Federal health officials continue to probe the source of E. coli contamination and warned consumers not to resume eating fresh spinach products.

The Food and Drug Administration has linked a California company’s fresh spinach to the outbreak, which has killed one person and sickened at least 109 others. Investigators are working to pinpoint the source of the bacteria. Possible sources include contaminated irrigation water, known to be a problem in the state’s Salinas Valley, a major produce-growing area.

Tampering is not suspected in an outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach. The FBI is monitoring the situation, said FBI spokesman Rich Kolko. Kolko added it was a routine and precautionary measure, and is not indicative of any suspicious activity.

Among the ill persons, 55 (50%) were hospitalized, 16 (15%) developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and an adult in Wisconsin died. Eighty-one (74%) were female and 6 (6%) were children under 5 years old.

Dates of illness onset ranged from August 2 to September 9, 2006. The states that have reported cases are California (1 case), Connecticut (2), Idaho (4), Indiana (8), Kentucky (4), Maine (2), Michigan (6), Minnesota (1), New Mexico (5), Nevada (1), New York (7), Ohio (10), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (3), Utah (14), Virginia (1), Washington (2), Wisconsin (32), and Wyoming (1).

E. coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called HUS. HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.

"He had terrible bad habits. He had a diet largely of sausages and waffles," Dr. L. Stephen Coles, founder of the Gerontology Research Group at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Friday.

The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Johnson died of pneumonia Wednesday at his Richmond home in Northern California.

"A lot of people think or imagine that your good habits and bad habits contribute to your longevity," Coles said. "But we often find it is in the genes rather than lifestyle."

Johnson, who was blind and living alone until his 110th birthday when a caregiver began helping him, built the Richmond house by hand in 1935. He got around using a walker in recent years.

Johnson was the only living Californian considered a "supercentenarian," a designation for those ages 110 or older, Coles said. His group is now in the process of validating a Los Angeles candidate who claims to be 112 years old.

A mixture of six bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on meat and poultry to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year, federal health officials said Friday.

The mixture of special viruses, called bacteriophages, would target strains of Listeria monocytogenes, the Food and Drug Administration said in declaring it is safe to use. The viruses are designed to be sprayed on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products just before they are packaged.

The bacterium they target can cause a serious infection called listeriosis, primarily in pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. In the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 500 die.

8. Will the additive be declared on the food label?

Use of this additive must comply with the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act, which are both administered by USDA. According to USDA, the use of the phage preparation will need to be declared as an ingredient on the label of the treated meat or poultry product, e.g., "bacteriophage preparation." In addition, when the phage is applied to meat and poultry products with standards of identity that do not permit the addition of antimicrobial agents, the products will need to be descriptively named, e.g., "beef steak treated with an antimicrobial solution to reduce microorganisms."

Effect seen in 3 hours
The researchers, led by Dr. Stephen Nicholls, a cardiologist now at the Cleveland Clinic, found that three hours after eating the saturated-fat cake and shake, the lining of the arteries was hindered from expanding to increase blood flow. And after six hours, the anti-inflammatory qualities of the good cholesterol were reduced.

But the polyunsaturated meal seemed to improve those anti-inflammatory qualities. Also, fewer inflammatory agents were found in the arteries than before the meal.

Pomegranates contain a cocktail of chemicals which minimise cell damage, and potentially kill off cancer cells.

The study, by the University of California in Los Angeles, appears in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Previous research had indicated that pomegranate juice could have a beneficial effect on prostate cancer in tests on mice.

But the latest study has shown that humans can potentially benefit too.

Half the mice were fed a vegetable-free diet and half the mice were fed a diet which included broccoli, green beans, corn, peas and carrots.

After 16 weeks, researchers measured cholesterol content in the blood vessels and estimated that plaques in the arteries of the mice were 38% smaller.

Although there was also a reduction in total cholesterol and body weight in mice fed the vegetable-rich diet, analysis showed that this could not explain the reduction in atherosclerosis.

Lead researcher Dr Michael Adams said: "While everyone knows that eating more vegetables is supposed to be good for you, no-one had shown before that it can actually inhibit the development of atherosclerosis."

The fastest growing appliance used by Americans to prepare a meal is . . . the power window.

Last year, for 22 percent of all meals purchased at a restaurant, we did not even get out of our cars, a new high! (Would this trend have happened if we still had to hand-crank the windows in our cars?)

The No. 1 snack by children (under 6 years old) is . . .

...fruit! Don't be surprised. Parents still control the intake of toddlers and babies. Once they have their 6th birthday, however, look out!

The No. 1 food ordered by women in restaurants is . . .

French fries! (And you thought it was salad!)

Recommendations published in the magazine Consumer Reports this week urge women to avoid eating any canned tuna while pregnant because of uncertainties about the risk of mercury contamination to developing fetuses.

The recommendations are stricter than the federal government's advice issued two years ago. Then, the FDA advised women and young children to limit — but not avoid — consumption of canned tuna because of contamination.

But the magazine's experts say women should avoid the popular item altogether because of FDA data showing that some canned tuna may have higher mercury levels than once thought.

"What we did is take a closer look at the data," says Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., a toxicologist and a senior scientist at Consumer Reports.

But the Consumer Reports analysis of the FDA's data shows that 6% of cans of light tuna contained at least as much mercury as white tuna, also known as albacore. It wasn't enough to skew the average beyond white tuna, but enough to warrant concern for pregnant women, Rangan says.

"We're not telling you not to eat tuna. But for pregnant women in particular where you are talking about potential fetal exposure - and it's an avoidable risk - we're saying go ahead and take some extra measures to reduce your Hg [mercury] exposure at all costs," she tells WebMD.

The survey, made public at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, led researchers to conclude that media reporting and public health education efforts on risky eating habits and food-borne illnesses may be working.

But people under 18 years old with compromised immune systems were much more likely -- by 21 to 14 percent -- to eat risky foods than healthy people of the same age, the survey found, leading researchers to believe they may have to target specific groups for education.

The proportion of people eating risky foods dropped from 31 percent in 1998 to 21 percent four years later, according to the results of telephone surveys of 15,000 to 20,000 people conducted by the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet.

In the latest study the same Dunn team examined cells from the lining of the colon taken from healthy volunteers eating different diets.

They found higher levels of DNA damage in the cells taken from people eating red meat.

Work by the Open University team suggests the reason could be the presence of substances called N-nitrosocompounds, which form in the large bowel after eating red meat.

Their work suggests that these compounds combine with DNA, and alter it so that it is more likely to undergo harmful changes or mutations that increase the likelihood of cancer

Most people know part of Fogle's story, he said, but don’t realize he started gaining weight in third grade. "I can trace it back to when I was given the best birthday present of my life: a Nintendo."

At that point, Fogle said, he started playing video games more and riding his bike and playing sports less. He became sedentary. With his love of video games, he developed a love of junk food.

"I usually had one hand on the controller and one in a bag of chips," he said. By the time he reached sixth grade, he was bigger than the other children, he said, and his father, a doctor, started to worry.

"They tried restricting my Nintendo time, but I found ways to get around it," Fogle said.

The government, for example, has stated repeatedly that canned light tuna is low in mercury and a nutritious choice for pregnant mothers and children.

What it doesn't tell you is that tens of millions of those cans actually contain tuna that is high in mercury. And you would never know which can is less safe from reading the labels.

A 161-pound woman - the average weight of women ages 18-45 - who ate a couple of sandwiches a week of that kind of light tuna would exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines for mercury exposure.

The tuna in cans mainly comes from three kinds: skipjack, yellowfin and albacore. Skipjack has the lowest level of mercury - the average woman could eat almost three cans a week without consuming risky amounts of mercury.

Albacore and yellowfin have higher levels - she could eat no more than a can a week without risk.

"The eight major food allergens account for 90 percent of all documented food allergic reactions, and some reactions may be severe or life-threatening," said Robert E. Brackett, PhD, Director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "Consumers will benefit from improved food labels for products that contain food allergens."

A 1999 FDA study in Minnesota and Wisconsin found a quarter of the baked goods, ice cream and candy its scientists sampled failed to list peanuts or eggs as ingredients.

Food labels must now list the common name of the product as well as the name of the specific allergen it contains. A product containing a protein derived from milk called casein, for example, must list both "milk" and "casein" on its label. Labels also must specify the type of fish, crustacean or tree nut the product contains.

During a food-safety demonstration at a food bank, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for food safety walked along a table laden with raw and cooked turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.

Raymond and Terrell Danley Jr., the chef at Washington’s Creme Cafe, showed how to plunge a thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey leg. The government says the temperature should read 180 degrees before the bird comes out of the oven.

That is easier said than done for people who look forward to a juicy bird. Chefs say the turkey can dry out at 180 degrees.

"I believe that’s excessive," said David Kamen, chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America. "The idea is to ensure people's safety. Salmonella dies at 165 degrees, so that extra 15 degrees we're throwing on top of there, one has to ask why."

Help! It's the night before Thanksgiving and I forgot to move my 14-pound frozen turkey into the refrigerator to defrost. I know it's not safe to just leave it out on the counter. Is there anything I can do?

Yes, although you'll have to stay up late. Put the turkey in a cooler or sink full of cold water. Change the water every few hours so that it remains under 40ºF. The turkey will thaw in about seven hours (the general rule is 30 minutes per pound). See more tips on thawing a frozen turkey.

Can I stuff my turkey the night before I roast it to save time in the morning?

Only if you wish to poison your guests. In other words, DEFINITELY NOT. Stuffing the bird the night before would allow dangerous bacteria to grow.

For the new study, researchers measured how well 3,718 people did on simple tests, such as recalling details of a story. The participants, all Chicago residents 65 and older, took the tests three times over six years. They also filled out a questionnaire about what they ate that included 139 foods.

"We found that people who ate one fish meal a week had a 10 percent slower annual decline in thinking," said co-author Martha Clare Morris, an epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center. "Those who ate two fish meals a week showed a 13 percent slower annual decline."

"Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close," says study leader Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at the university. Although fruits and vegetables are generally promoted as good sources of antioxidants, the new finding is surprising because it represents the first time that coffee has been shown to be the primary source from which most Americans get their antioxidants, Vinson says. Both caffeinated and decaf versions appear to provide similar antioxidant levels, he adds.

He cautions that high antioxidant levels in foods and beverages don't necessarily translate into levels found in the body. The potential health benefits of these antioxidants ultimately depends on how they are absorbed and utilized in the body, a process that is still poorly understood, says Vinson, whose study was primarily funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute.

Besides keeping you alert and awake, coffee has been linked to an increasing number of potential health benefits, including protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, according to some recently published studies. But there's also a downside: Java can make you jittery and cause stomach pains, while some studies have tied it to elevated blood pressure and heart rates. More research is needed, particularly human studies, to firmly establish its health benefits, Vinson says.

While the findings would seem to encourage people to go out and drink more coffee, Vinson emphasizes moderation. "One to two cups a day appear to be beneficial," he says. If you don't like coffee, consider drinking black tea, which is the second most consumed antioxidant source in the U.S. diet, Vinson says. Bananas, dry beans and corn placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

"Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look specifically at dark chocolate's effect on lowering blood pressure among people with hypertension," said Jeffrey Blumberg of Tufts University in Boston, who led the study.

"This study is not about eating more chocolate," Blumberg added. "It suggests that cocoa flavonoids appear to have benefits on vascular function and glucose sensitivity."

"White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark chocolate," Blumberg said.

"It's important to note that the dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate, which has a low amount of these compounds."

Writing in the journal Hypertension, Blumberg's team said when the volunteers ate the special dark chocolate, they had a 12 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 9 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) on average.

Blood pressure did not change when the volunteers ate white chocolate.

"This is not only a statistically significant effect, but it's also a clinically meaningful decline," Blumberg said. "This is the kind of reduction in blood pressure often found with other healthful dietary interventions."

Tests in laboratory dishes show that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a process known as apoptosis.

The same team has found that curcumin helped stop the spread of breast cancer tumor cells to the lungs of mice.

Bharat Aggarwal of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and colleagues treated three batches of melanoma cells, known as cell lines, with curcumin at different doses and for varying times.

The curcumin suppressed two proteins that tumor cells use to keep themselves immortal, the researchers write in next month's issue of the journal Cancer.