Fewer Sugary Drinks May Lower Blood Pressure

Drinking fewer sugary drinks may help lower blood pressure, U. S. researchers said May 24 in findings adding to a growing body of research supporting cutting back on sweetened beverages. They found overweight people with high blood pressure who drank one less sugar-laden beverage a day significantly lowered their blood pressure over 18 months. For

Potato Famine Disease Striking Home Gardens In U. S.

Late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home gardens from Maine to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic farms, U. S. plant scientists said July 10. “Late blight has never occurred this early and this widespread in the United States,” said Meg


Genetic Blueprint For Cattle Created

Scientists have created the first genetic blueprint of domestic cattle, saying the map may lead to tastier beef, better milk and even new insights about human health. The Hereford cow’s is the first mapped livestock animal sequence, and the researchers think it will help explain how cattle evolved, why they ended up with a four-chambered

U. S. Making Little Progress On Food Safety

Efforts to improve food safety in the United States have “plateaued,” exposing the need for an overhaul of the nation’s food safety system, government health officials said April 9. Despite work to improve food safety in recent years, the number of foodborne infections remained steady, with little change in the past few years, suggesting fundamental


Massive Effort Underway To Save Endangered Seeds

Farmers and plant breeders around the globe are planting thousands of endangered seeds as part of an effort to save 100,000 varieties of food crops from extinction. In many cases, only a handful of seeds remain from rare varieties of barley, rice and wheat whose history can be traced back to the Neolithic era, said

Effort Underway To Save Endangered Seeds

Farmers and plant breeders around the globe are planting thousands of endangered seeds as part of a bid to save 100,000 varieties of food crops from extinction. In many cases, only a handful of seeds remain from rare varieties of barley, rice and wheat whose history can be traced back to the Neolithic era, said