Thursday, November 7, 2013

No more trans fat: FDA banning the artery-clogger

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)







FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)







FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2008 file photo, a rack of donuts is displayed at a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in Boston. Consumers wondering what food without trans fat will taste like, probably already know as food manufacturers began eliminating it years ago. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)







WASHINGTON (AP) — Heart-clogging trans fats were once a staple of the American diet, plentiful in baked goods, microwave popcorn and fried foods. Now, mindful of the health risks, the Food and Drug Administration is getting rid of what's left of them for good.

Condemning artificial trans fats as a threat to public health, the FDA announced Thursday it will require the food industry to phase them out.

Manufacturers already have eliminated many trans fats, responding to criticism from the medical community and to local laws, Even so, the FDA said getting rid of the rest — the average American still eats around a gram of trans fat a day — could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.

It won't happen right away. The agency will collect comments for two months before determining a phase-out timetable. Different foods may have different schedules, depending how easy it is to find substitutes.

"We want to do it in a way that doesn't unduly disrupt markets," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods. Still, he says, the food "industry has demonstrated that it is, by and large, feasible to do."

Indeed, so much already has changed that most people won't notice much difference, if any, in food they get at groceries or restaurants.

Scientists say there are no health benefits to trans fats. And they can raise levels of "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind for your heart, even worse than saturated fats, which also can contribute to heart disease.

Trans fats are used both in processed food and in restaurants, often to improve the texture, shelf life or flavor of foods. Though they have been removed from many items, the fats are still found in some baked goods such as pie crusts and biscuits and in ready-to-eat frostings that use the more-solid fats to keep consistency.

They also are sometimes used by restaurants for frying. Many larger chains have phased them out, but smaller restaurants may still get food containing trans fats from suppliers.

How can the government get rid of them? The FDA said it has made a preliminary determination that trans fats no longer fall in the agency's "generally recognized as safe" category, which covers thousands of additives that manufacturers can add to foods without FDA review. Once trans fats are off the list, anyone who wants to use them would have to petition the agency for a regulation allowing it, and that would likely not be approved.

The fats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid, which is why they are often called partially hydrogenated oils. The FDA is not targeting small amounts of trans fats that occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, because they would be too difficult to remove and aren't considered a major public health threat on their own.

Many companies have already phased out trans fats, prompted by new nutrition labels introduced by FDA in 2006 that list trans fats and by an increasing number of local laws, like one in New York City, that have banned them. In 2011, Wal-Mart pledged to remove all artificial trans fats from the foods the company sells by 2016. Recent school lunch guidelines prevent them from being served in cafeterias.

In a statement, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was his city's 2008 ban that led to much of the change. "Our prohibition on trans fats was one of many bold public health measures that faced fierce initial criticism, only to gain widespread acceptance and support," he said.

But support is far from universal. A nationwide poll conducted by the Pew Research Center between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 said that of the 996 adults surveyed, 44 percent were in favor of prohibiting restaurants from using trans fats while 52 percent opposed the idea.

Still, Americans are eating much less of the fat. According to the FDA, trans fat intake among Americans declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to around one gram in 2012.

A handful of other countries have banned them, including Switzerland and Denmark. Other countries have enacted strict labeling laws.

Dr. Leon Bruner, chief scientist at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said in a statement that his group estimates that food manufacturers have voluntarily lowered the amount of trans fats in food products by 73 percent.

The group, which represents the country's largest food companies, did not speculate on a reasonable timeline or speak to how difficult a ban might be for some manufacturers. Bruner said in a statement that "consumers can be confident that their food is safe, and we look forward to working with the FDA to better understand their concerns and how our industry can better serve consumers."

Said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg: "While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern."

Agency officials say they have been working on trans fat issues for around 15 years and have been collecting data to justify a possible phase-out since just after President Barack Obama came into office in 2009.

The advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest first petitioned FDA to ban trans fats nine years ago. The group's director, Michael Jacobson, says the prohibition is "one of the most important lifesaving actions the FDA could take."

"Six months or a year should be more than enough time, especially considering that companies have had a decade to figure out what to do," Jacobson said.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-11-07-FDA-Trans%20Fats/id-922009b2de6a4cd68f9ee013356faaf8
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Twitter shares rocket 92% higher in NYSE debut



By Olivia Oran and Gerry Shih


Nov 7 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc stock soared 92
percent in their first day of trading on Thursday on the New
York Stock Exchange as investors snapped up shares in the
microblogging site, pushing its market value to a heady $25
billion.


The shares opened at $45.10 a share, up from the initial
public offering price of $26 set on Wednesday, then added to
those gains, hitting a high of $50.


Sources said the flotation had drawn strong demand, with
investors asking for 30 times the number of shares on offer as
they bet on potential growth at the money-losing social media
company.


The opening price valued the shares at about 22 times
forecast 2014 sales, nearly double that multiple at social media
rivals Facebook Inc and LinkedIn Corp.


Twitter executives including Chief Executive Dick Costolo
and founder Jack Dorsey thronged to the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange to witness the IPO. The Big Board snatched the
offering away from Nasdaq after the normally tech-focused Nasdaq
stumbled with the larger Facebook flotation last year.


"Facebook was so overhyped people felt like they couldn't
miss out," said Kenneth Polcari, a senior floor official at
O'Neil Securities Inc. "Twitter isn't like that, though you can
feel the excitement."


British actor Patrick Stewart rang the opening bell at the
exchange together with 9-year-old Vivienne Harr, who started a
charity to end childhood slavery using the microblogging site.


"I guess I represent the poster boy for Twitter," Stewart
said, adding that he had only been tweeting for about a year and
wasn't buying Twitter stock today.


Twitter's building staff opened its offices in San Francisco
extra early, at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. By 7:30 a.m., hundreds of
employees had flocked to their 9th floor cafeteria to watch
Stewart ring the opening bell on TV.


The microblogging network priced its 70 million shares at
above the targeted range of $23 to $25, which had been raised
once before. The IPO values Twitter at $14.1 billion, with the
potential to reach $14.4 billion if underwriters exercise an
overallotment option.


If the full overallotment is exercised, as expected, Twitter
could raise $2.1 billion, making it the second largest Internet
offering in the United States behind Facebook Inc's $16
billion IPO last year and ahead of Google Inc's 2004
IPO, according to Thomson Reuters data.


Twitter boasts 230 million global users, including heads of
state and celebrities, but it lost $65 million in its most
recent quarter and questions remained about long-term prospects.


It also lacks the ubiquity of Facebook or the "stickiness"
factor that keeps people checking the No. 1 social network on a
daily basis.


A Reuters-Ipsos poll last month showed that 36 percent of
people who signed up for a Twitter account say they do not use
it.



Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-set-debut-ipo-30-141551118.html
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Players divided regarding Dolphins' Martin

Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)







Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)







Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, left, stands with head trainer Kevin O'Neill, right, during the NFL football team's practice Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)







DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — In a culture that fosters conflict, Jonathan Martin sought to avoid it.

Upset by treatment he considered abusive, the Miami Dolphins tackle let the situation fester for months before leaving the team last week. Martin's agent then complained to the Dolphins, who suspended guard Richie Incognito.

The NFL is investigating whether Incognito harassed or bullied Martin, and whether their teammates and the organization mishandled the matter.

But pro football is a macho world, and some players believe Martin should have responded more firmly.

"Is Incognito wrong? Absolutely. He's 100 percent wrong," New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle said. "No individual should have to go through that, especially in their workplace.

"But at the same time, Jonathan Martin is a 6-4, 320-pound man. I mean, at some point and time you need to stand your ground as an individual. Am I saying go attack, go fight him? No. I think we all understand we can stand our ground without anything being physical."

Dolphins players have robustly defended Incognito, long considered among the NFL's dirtiest players. He's now a notorious national villain, but teammates praise his leadership and loyalty.

They've been less passionate in their support of Martin, saying he and Incognito behaved like best friends.

"They did a lot of stuff together," tackle Tyson Clabo said. "So if he had a problem with the way he was treating him, he had a funny way of showing it."

Martin is with his family in California to undergo counseling for emotional issues.

A senior partner in a New York law firm was appointed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate possible misconduct and prepare a report. DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said Thursday that he continues to be in touch with those involved.

"The NFLPA has taken steps to ensure that every one of our affected members is represented," Smith said in a statement. "It is our duty as a union to learn the full facts, protect the interests of players involved and hold management accountable to the highest standards of fairness and transparency."

Martin is the son of Harvard graduates, and his great grandfather graduated from the school in 1924. Martin attended Stanford, where he majored in the classics and protected Andrew Luck's blind side.

Martin was taken by the Dolphins in the second round of the 2012 draft. But while he has been a starter since the first game of his rookie season, he developed a reputation in the NFL for lacking toughness.

That impression might have been reinforced by the way he handled his issues with Incognito, current and former teammates acknowledge.

"A lot of people might look at Jonathan Martin and think that he's soft because he stepped away from the game, and say, 'Why don't you just fight him?'" said Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin, who played with Martin at Stanford. "Well, if you look at it with common sense and being logical, what options did Jonathan Martin have?

"He could fight Richie Incognito. He could go and tell on the players, which we know in the football locker room doesn't go over too well. Or he could remove himself from the situation and let the proper channels take care of itself. And I think he made the intelligent, smart choice without putting himself or Richie Incognito's physical abilities in danger."

Incognito's harassment of Martin included text messages that were racist and threatening, two people familiar with the situation have told The Associated Press. Incognito is white, while Martin is biracial.

Two other people familiar with the situation have said Martin talked of quitting football earlier in his pro career before leaving the Dolphins. One person said Martin considered giving up the sport because of the way he was being treated by other offensive linemen on the team. The person added that Martin now wants to continue his football career.

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle and Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, N.J., contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

___

Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-11-07-Dolphins%20Turmoil/id-5a2b89b9600346d7b746ffea8ad2587d
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Google Glass gets XE11 update, adds new directions, calendar search, setup and screencasting shortcut

Google Glass XE11 update

A quick heads up for you folks (OK, you few folks) out there sporting Google Glass. The November update — XE11 — is now available.

New this month is the ability to designate home and work locations on Glass — just like you can in Google Maps, the easier to find your way home or to work. (And, more important, to route you around any traffic.)

You'll also be getting personalized calendar search, so you can ask Glass to show you what's coming up.

There's a new setup scheme as well, but you'll need to do a hard-reset to see that.

And finally there's a new shortcut in the notification drawer of your phone for screencasting.

Google's also changed up the shortcut for initiating a search. Instead of long-pressing the touchpad, you'll need to tap it three times slowly when the display is off.

More: XE11 release notes; via +Google Glass


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/t1KH-Rl6IL4/story01.htm
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Hangouts 2.0 now rolling out with SMS support

Hangouts

New version lets you use Google's IM app to send and receive texts

As promised at last week's Google+ event, the new version of Hangouts capable of sending and receiving text messages is now rolling out through Google Play. The update to brings things up to speed with the version of Hangouts on the Nexus 5, which is the default SMS app on that device. When you first load up the updated Hangouts you'll be presented with a fullscreen message asking if you want to enable SMS support — tap yes and your messages are imported into the app, and you'll receive future SMS notifications through Hangouts instead of your preloaded SMS app. Tap "Maybe later" and things will stay as they are.

For the most part, the texting experience through Hangouts 2.0 on any other device is the same as it is on the Nexus 5 — SMS conversations are shown in a list alongside your other, and you can choose whether you want to communicate over Hangouts or SMS when starting a new conversation. Want out? At any point you can go to Settings > SMS > Turn on SMS to enable or disable SMS in Hangouts.

The update also adds animated GIF support and a new location-sharing button, which you can tap to tell contacts where you are.

As usual the update is being rolled out gradually across the Android user base, so don't be surprised if you don't see it immediately. If you're updating today, be sure to hit the comments and let us know whether you're opting into SMS in Hangouts or not.


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/LDvv8kiS33A/story01.htm
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Report: The CIA Pays AT&T Over $10 Million a Year to Spy on Phone Calls

Report: The CIA Pays AT&T Over $10 Million a Year to Spy on Phone Calls

Check it out, guys. It's a creepy revelation about the government spying on your phone calls that didn't come from Edward Snowden's NSA leak. Nope, just your standard sketchy CIA arrangements with a telecommunications company—AT&T to be exact.

Read more...


    






Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/RyuMd56GypM/report-the-cia-pays-at-t-over-10-million-a-year-to-sp-1460113546
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'Wolverine' Sequel: Do's And Don't's For The Follow-Up


Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold are in early talks to return for another round of mutant fun.


By Kevin P. Sullivan








Source:
http://www.mtv.comhttp://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1716877/wolverine-sequel-x-men-film.jhtml

Category: Battlefield 4   Amber Riley