From Onions to Chicken Soup: The Wall Street Journal Weighs in On Home Flu Remedies
Melinda Beck has a terrific article in today's Wall Street Journal about home remedies for the H1N1 virus and (as we have previously blogged) the FDA's efforts to reign in those making unsupported marketing claims for their remedies.
One remedy sweeping the blogosphere like wildfire is the use of onions to soak up flu bugs. I did a Google search on the topic "onion flu remedy" and while a couple of articles came up debunking the idea (including Ms. Beck's), far more were articles claiming that the home remedy was in fact effective.
I turned then to Snopes.com, the great arbiter of urban legends, and it's verdict was unequivocal: false. The article did a nice job of tracing the history of onion/flu fetishism well into the nineteenth century, though I suspect one can go further, perhaps to ancient Rome and Greece.
Unlike most quack claims made for flu remedies, the onion cure at least has the advantage of being inexpensive and, particuiarly if you're using raw, unpeeled onion, completely benign.
Ms. Beck was, however, quite positive on my own family's way of dealing with any form of illness, chicken soup. Her article even includes a chicken soup recipe, which is not too far from the recipe my family has used for generations (although the key to ours is a kosher chicken). Chicken soup may not cure anything (though the title of an abstract listed at the bottom of recipe suggests it might), but it sure feels good on a sore throat.
FDA's Searchable Widget for Fraudulent H1N1 (Swine) Flu Products
Ken has previously blogged about liability issues relating to H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu. Today, the FDA has issued a widget to allow employers, consumers and others to browse and search fraudulent H1N1 influenza products and report suspected fraud. The widget can be copied onto any other Web site or blog. The FDA had previously issued a similar widget for the peanut butter recall. Additional information can be obtained from the FDA's swine flu page or flu.gov.
This is the widget:
Hamburg Confirmed by Voice Vote in Senate
Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, President Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate yesterday by a voice vote.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had moved up her confirmation hearings because of the imminent threat of H1N1 influenza, and she sailed through both the heaings and action on the Senate floor with bipartisan accolades.
There are few things that would be better for the country than for those bipartisan accolades to continue to be earned by her during her entire tenure in this incredibly challenging job. We wish her luck.
Secretary of Agriculture Emphasizes Safety of U.S. Pork
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued a statement today emphasizing that U.S. pork products are safe and that there is no evidence that U.S. swine have been infected with the swine flu virus.
Calling trade restrictions on pork or pork products unnecessary, Vilsack said any such restrictions would be inconsistent with World Organization for Animal Health guidelines. “[I]t is not necessary to introduce specific measures for international trade in swine or their products, nor are consumers of pork products at risk of infection,” Vilsack said. The complete statement is available here.
A report in The New York Times notes that pork producers are questioning whether it is appropriate to call the virus “swine flu” given that there is no evidence of swine infection. The report states that officials in Thailand, one of the world’s largest meat exporters, have started calling the virus “Mexican flu.” An Israeli deputy health minister reportedly said Israel would follow suit to keep Jews from having to say the word “swine.”
Pork Producers Feel Effects of Swine Flu
Pork producers are feeling the effects of the swine flu as the number of reported cases of the virus increases. Stock prices for Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork processor, and Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, fell 12 percent and 9 percent today, respectively. The Wall Street Journal reports that the prices of hogs, corn, and soybeans also dropped today. About 16 percent of U.S. pork exports have been shipped to Mexico over the past year – a country where so far 149 people have died from the swine flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health officials have emphasized that swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food and people cannot contract the virus by eating pork or pork products. That fact alone does not seem to be enough to quell consumers’ fears. MarketWatch earlier today quoted a pork industry analyst as saying the industry wants to avoid a slip of exports and prices akin to the 2003 avian flu outbreak in Asia. Analyst Heather Jones said she believes the pork industry “needs to undertake an aggressive and widespread informational marketing campaign.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. announced today that it is closing 10 of its Mexico City cafes in response to the swine flu outbreak and pursuant to instructions from the Mexican government.
