With Japan poised to restart two nuclear reactors, contingency plans for evacuations still aren’t ready. Japan is lifting its nuclear freeze following last year’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster and is about to restart two reactors at Ohi. But in the event of a meltdown, the only route for escaping or for sending help would be a cliff-hugging road often closed by snow in winter or clogged by beachgoers in summer. Also, radioactivity from an accident at the reactors’ site in western Japan could contaminate the country’s biggest freshwater source, Lake Biwa. Officials say most of the communities around the country’s 48 other reactors, too, can’t yet comply with new evacuation zone guidelines. The Associated Press
Public health advocates accuse drug company of improperly marketing allergy medicine to children. In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, the Public Health Advocacy Institute and 10 other groups called Merck’s marketing strategy for Children’s Claritin dangerous and deceptive. It pointed to the inclusion of stickers of animated characters from the movie “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” in some boxes of the product, and the enlistment of a team of mothers who blog about Claritin-themed Madagascar viewing parties for children. The health advocates said the packaging might also lead children to mistake the grape-flavored Claritin tablets and syrup for candy. The New York Times
American Medical Association backs yearly instruction aimed at preventing obesity. The nation’s largest physicians group on Wednesday, the final day of its annual policymaking meeting, agreed to support legislation that would require classes in the causes, consequences and prevention of obesity for first through 12th graders. In another move, the AMA said it supports the idea of using revenue from taxes on sugar-sweetened sodas as one way to help pay for obesity-fighting programs. But the group stopped short of fully endorsing such taxes. Among the objections to making an outright call for such a tax is the concern that it would disproportionately hit the poor. The Associated Press, Reuters
Consumer Reports poll finds most Americans want antibiotics-free meat sold at their local supermarkets. The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, part of a report called “Meat on Drugs,” found that 86 percent believe meat raised without antibiotics should be available at their stores. In addition, 72 percent indicated they were very or extremely concerned about the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed, which is linked to the spread of “superbugs” immune or resistant to antibiotics. Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, simultaneously launched a campaign to push supermarkets to sell meat raised without antibiotics and urged federal authorities to improve labeling standards. Consumer Reports
Chinese authorities have discovered 15,000 incidents of substandard food production this year. There’s mercury in the baby formula. Gelatin capsules for pills are laced with chromium. Used cooking oil is scooped out of gutters for reuse. The accounts of dubious or unsafe food in China also include grilled kebabs made from cat meat and chlorine showing up in soft drinks. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that such discoveries have prompted authorities to shut 5,700 unlicensed food businesses this year. Yet an investigation by the Chinese magazine Caixin has found that “these publicized food safety scandals represent only a fraction of unsafe food production practices.” International Herald Tribune
Truck manufacturer faces up to $90,000 in penalties after 2 workers suffer finger amputations. Wooster, Ohio,-based Stahl/Scott Fetzer Co. was accused of six safety violations by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The offenses included one willful violation, OSHA’s’ most serious charge. OSHA said the company failed at its Wooster plant to put protective guards on two press brakes used to bend sheet metal. Both workers were injured while using the unguarded equipment. Separately, OSHA proposed penalties of $89,420 against Cummings Marine Service in Memphis, Tenn., for 11 violations primarily related to its failure to address previously cited hazardous chemicals problems. OSHA
Recalls: Flushmate pressure-assist flushing systems, Frigidaire gas ranges sold at Lowe’s, Tricruiser adult tricycles
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
