The US was only grappling with the ongoing Bird flu outbreak, on top of it, the nation is facing another health crisis of the deadly E.coli outbreak. It has reached grocery stores across different counties in the US. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 people are in hospital and as many as 39 cases have been reported across 18 states so far.

CDC mentioned that the outbreak has been traced to Grimmway Farms and recalled "multiple sizes and brands" of bagged organic baby and whole carrots. Despite these products no longer being available at the local grocery stores, they are still in people's kitchens and can pose great threats to them. Thus, the outbreak is still considered active by the CDC.

The Grimmway Farms has already sold carrots to big supermarkets like Trader Joe's, President's Choice, Cal-Organic, Whole Foods' 365, Target's Good & Gather, Walmart's Marketside, and Wegmans. The full list of this can be found on the official website of CDC, published under the release titled Where People Got Sick: E.coli Outbreak, Organic Carrots, November 2024.

What Is E.Coli?

Escherichia coli, or E.coli is a bacterium that lives in the human intestine and is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the US and the UK. In June 2024, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned that E.coli cases reported across the UK were part of a single outbreak. It also issued a list of recalled products to parents as the outbreak spread.

There are multiple species of E.coli, and some of them are also harmless. However, there are others that can result in mild symptoms, including nausea, fatigue, and diarrhoea, while some can be even more serious and can lead to life-threatening symptoms.

Which US states are most affected?

It has spread across 18 states across the US, including California, New York, Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Colorado. The highest number of cases are reported from Washington, Minnesota, and New York, with California and Oregon the next on top.

The contaminated products are being identified by their best-if-used-by dates. For baby organic carrots, their best-if-used-by dates are approximately between (9/11/2024) September 11 and (11/12/2024) November 12, while for organic carrots, the dates are between (8/14/2024) August 14 and (10/23/2024) October 23.

What are the common symptoms of E.coli?

With E.coli not being a new toxin, being known for a long time in medicine, the symptoms have been studied and can be recognised easily. Rais Vohra, a professor of Clinical Emergency medicine at UCSF Medical and director of the California Poison Control System Fresno-Madera Division says that most people recover, although some may experience severe symptoms too.

The symptoms usually show up within the 3 to 4 days after infection, this may include:

• Nausea
• Diarrhoea
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting

In some cases, especially with severe symptoms, a variety of E.coli may produce Shiga toxin (STEC), which can result in bloody diarrhoea and complications like hemolytic uremic syndrome. It leads to kidney failure and death. STEC gets into the gut lining and peels it off, this is why people may get bloody diarrhoea. The bacteria can also enter the bloodstream and can lead to blood poisoning or sepsis.

What do you do if you have E.coli symptoms?

Replenishing fluids and electrolytes which are lost due to excessive vomiting and diarrhoea is the most impactful way to recover from E.coli.

If you notice a 102 degrees Fahrenheit fever, or diarrhoea that lasts longer than 3 days and a bloody diarrhoea, it is a must that you see a doctor.

Preventive Measure

The CDC has issued guides on the "4 Steps To Food Safety".

The guidelines are based on prevention steps and strategies, they include:

• Practising cleanliness, and washing your hands and surfaces often. CDC recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm or cold water, before, during, and after preparing food and before eating food. CDC also recommends washing hands after handling uncooked meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, flour or eggs. Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water after preparing food and rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water.

• Another important part of the guideline urges people to separate food to avoid any cross-contamination. Raw meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat food, thus they must be kept separately. They must be stored in containers or be wrapped so their juices do not leak onto other food. A separate chopboard must be used to slice the meat or poultry or any other farm product. CDC also has mentioned to not wash raw chicken, as washing them first could spread the germs to other food.

• Cooking at the right temperature is also the key, and CDC recommends people to use a food thermometer to ensure foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature. CDC also shared an accurate reading list:

• Whole cuts of beef, veal, lamb, and pork, including fresh ham: 145°F (then allow the meat to rest for 3 minutes before carving or eating)
• Fish with fins: 145°F or cook until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork
• Ground meats, such as beef and pork: 160°F
• All poultry, including ground chicken and turkey: 165°F
• Leftovers and casseroles: 165°F

The full reading list for cooking food can be found on the FoodSafety.gov website.

• Lastly, the fourth guideline is to refrigerate the food properly and not leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours. CDC recommends to keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and your freezer at 0°F or below.

It turns out that a "boring" bowl of oatmeal might be a secret weapon for heart health. A recent study from the University of Bonn, published in Nature Communications, suggests that eating a diet focused almost entirely on oatmeal for just 48 hours can significantly lower cholesterol.

The study looked at people with metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and extra body weight that increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Using oats as medicine isn't actually a new idea. Back in the early 1900s, a German doctor named Carl von Noorden used "oat cures" to help people with diabetes. While modern medications eventually took center stage, researchers wanted to see if this old-school method still held value for preventing disease today.

Can Oats Help Control Bad Cholesterol?

To test the theory, 32 men and women followed a strict plan for two days. Here is how it worked:

• They ate 300 grams of boiled oatmeal per day, split into three meals.
• They could only add very small amounts of fruits or vegetables.
• They cut their usual daily calories roughly in half.

A second "control group" also cut their calories by half but didn't eat oats. While both groups saw some health improvements from eating less, the oatmeal group saw much better results. Not only did their LDL drop by 10%, but they also lost about 2 kilos on average. The study notes that that they also showed a slight improvement.

Even more surprising? The lower cholesterol levels were still visible six weeks later, suggesting that a short "oat reboot" every month or so could have lasting benefits.

Why Is It Important To Lower Cholesterol Levels?

Proteins carry cholesterol through your blood as "lipoproteins." HDL is "good" because it clears extra cholesterol by sending it to your liver for removal. Non-HDL (mostly LDL) is "bad" because it delivers cholesterol to your body; too much causes fatty buildup in your arteries, which blocks blood flow and significantly increases your risk of heart attacks or strokes.

Lowering high cholesterol is vital because it directly protects your heart and brain. When "bad" cholesterol levels are too high, sticky deposits called plaques narrow your arteries

How Do Oats Lower Bad Cholesterol Levels?

The researchers believe the answer lies in our gut microbiome (the bacteria living in our digestive system).

When we eat oats, certain "good" bacteria thrive. These microbes break down the oats into substances like ferulic acid, which travels into the bloodstream and helps the body process cholesterol more effectively.

These bacteria also help prevent the body from creating compounds that lead to insulin resistance, a major cause of diabetes.

The study also found that "a little bit" of oatmeal might not be enough for a major impact. In a separate part of the study, people ate 80 grams of oatmeal a day for six weeks without changing the rest of their diet. This approach only led to small changes.

It seems the combination of high oat intake and temporary calorie restriction is the "magic formula" that triggers the most significant health improvements.

Ahead of Holi and Eid, and during Ramadan, when demand of cooking oil spikes for meal preparation, every year, substandard quality items hit the market. This year too this happened and to curb this practice, the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (UPFSDA) issued 37 notices for non compliance to sellers selling substandard oil. The Food Safety Department also seized oil worth Rs. 6.43 crore.

The UPFSDA inspected 64 manufacturing units across Uttar Pradesh and seized 4,16,494 litres of suspicious edible oil.

What Is Substandard Oil?

Substandard cooking oil refers to edible oils that are adulterated, improperly refined, reused, or of low quality, often containing harmful compounds due to poor manufacturing, such as high-heat processing or chemical contamination. FSSAI reports have indicated that up to 30.7% of edible oils in some markets are of poor quality or adulterated.

As per a 2024 study published in the International Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, common oil sources shows that most edible oils are extracted from seeds, while certain fruits such as olives, coconuts, and palm fruits are also used to produce oil. However, adulteration remains a major concern. Oils like Argemone oil, mineral oil, castor oil, karanja oil, olive oil, cottonseed oil, and paraffin oil are often blended with edible oils and ghee. Some adulterated products may even contain toxic substances such as cyanide and banned colouring agents.

Mustard oil and soybean oil are particularly vulnerable to adulteration through the deliberate addition of substances such as cyanide, mineral oil, karanja oil, Argemone oil, and linseed oil—practices that pose serious risks to consumer health and safety. Similarly, sesame oil is frequently mixed with other oils including avocado, olive, canola, walnut, peanut, and perilla oils.

Argemone oil, in particular, is derived from the seeds of the Argemone mexicana plant and is commonly mixed with mustard oil. Its seeds are spherical, blackish-brown, and have a net-like surface, closely resembling mustard seeds, which makes detection more difficult.

What Happens When You Consume Adulterated Edible Oils?

Adulteration, in general, makes edible oils and ghee unsafe for consumption and significantly reduces their nutritional value. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, many adulterants can cause permanent organ damage. History offers stark warnings: in Spain, the sale of non-edible rapeseed oil falsely marketed as olive oil led to more than 600 deaths in what became known as the Spanish toxic oil syndrome.

Argemone-contaminated oils have triggered major outbreaks in several countries, including a severe epidemic dropsy crisis in New Delhi in 1998. Reported symptoms included retinal haemorrhages, anaemia, kidney dysfunction, and severe protein deficiency. Some adulterated oils may also contain carcinogenic substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), increasing long-term cancer risk.

Other adulterants pose additional dangers. Castor oil contamination can cause severe gastrointestinal distress. Mineral oil adulteration is linked to liver toxicity and cancer risk. Cottonseed oil, when improperly blended, increases exposure to high levels of polyunsaturated fats, potentially contributing to obesity, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related diseases. In some alarming cases, soybean and mustard oils have been found adulterated with burnt mobil oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic chemicals associated with liver damage, neurological changes, dehydration, respiratory irritation, and systemic organ harm.

Adulteration can also trigger allergic reactions. If peanut oil is used as an undeclared adulterant, it may cause severe allergic responses in susceptible individuals.

The most concerning aspect is that loose or unpackaged edible oils are more prone to contamination and adulteration. What may appear to be a simple cost-cutting practice can, in reality, expose consumers to life-threatening toxins, chronic disease risks, and irreversible organ damage.

In a world where stress, anxiety and declining mental well-being are becoming increasingly common, many people are looking for simple lifestyle habits that can promote positive mood and psychological resilience.

New research suggests that eating around three servings of flavonoid-rich foods everyday, especially fruits such as blueberries, strawberries, apples and citrus fruits, may be linked with higher levels of happiness and optimism over time.

A large-scale observational study utilized data from the US Nurses Health Study 2026, one of the largest and longest running health studies focused on women. Scientists at Queens University Belfast and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed the eating habits and mental health of tens of thousands of women aged 60 and over for a period of up to 18 years.

Participants who consumed about three servings per day of flavonoid-rich foods were found to be three percent more likely to maintain sustained happiness over time and about six percent more likely to maintain long-term optimism

According to the authors, greater consumption of particular fruits such as blueberries and strawberries in some instances correlated with an 8-16 percent higher probability of being psychologically well over time.

Although the percentage increments may seem minor, the team of researchers point out that tiny effects at the population level can have a significant impact, particularly when the observation period is as long as almost twenty years.

The results were additionally featured in a press release of the International Blueberry Organization, which stressed the public health impact of regularly eating flavonoid-rich fruits.

Why Are Flavonoids Important?

• Berries (blueberries, strawberries)
• Apples and pears
• Citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit)
• Tea and red wine

How Does Diet Affect Happiness?

1. Reduced Inflammation: Chronic low-grade inflammation has been associated with depressive symptoms. Flavonoids may help dampen inflammatory pathways in the body.

2. Antioxidant Protection: One of the most dangerous byproducts of metabolism is oxidative stress and the damage it causes to our cells, including neurons involved in emotional regulation. Flavonoids are effective in the neutralization of free radicals.

3. Improved Vascular Function: Better blood vessel function may enhance cerebral blood flow, supporting optimal brain performance.

Surprisingly, the researchers also retained that an individual with higher levels of optimism was more likely to maintain healthy diets over time, hence, the possibility of a "virtuous cycle" mood and nutrition may reinforce one another.

A Simple, Actionable Takeaway

• Blueberries with breakfast
• An apple as an afternoon snack
• Citrus slices in a salad
• A cup of tea in the evening

While research keeps delving into the complex connection between diet and mental health, the takeaway message that emerges is: our diet not only supplies energy to our bodies but it also influences the quality of our mood and outlook on life.