Health Buzz: Gourmet's Meat Recall and Other Health News

Gourmet Meat Recalled

New York-based Gourmet Boutique voluntarily recalled more than 286,000 pounds of fresh and frozen meat and poultry products on Saturday because the items may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The frozen items were produced between Oct. 23, 2007, and April 23; the fresh meat and poultry salad products were made between April 19 and April 24. The items were sent to retail establishments across the country.

The USDA has posted a list of the recalled products on its website. Earlier this year, U.S. News explored the safety of the meat supply, and listed the top six meat recalls in U.S. history.

Young Women Delay Treatment for Heart Attack

More young women appear to be dying from heart disease , according to a just- published British study, possibly because of increased rates of smoking, obesity, and diabetes, Deborah Kotz reports.

Yet many women still haven't gotten the message that heart attacks strike them as often as men-- albeit usually a decade later. At an American Heart Association meeting held last week, Yale researchers reported that women in their 40's and 50's who suffered heart attacks often delayed getting treatment because they didn't think they were having one. While it's true women under 60 make up only 5 percent of heart disease patients, the researchers point out that this translates into 16,000 deaths and 40,000 hospitalizations every year.

Kotz lists heart attack warning signs in women from most common to least common, based on a previous study of young female heart attack patients. And Katherine Hobson has reported on how women can assess their own heart attack risk, as well as on heart screening tests that benefit women most.

Babies' Parents in the Dark About Child Development

About a third of parents of babies have little knowledge of child development --including how kids should act and what they should know at certain ages, according to a new study. Researchers said they were surprised by the findings because the parents who were surveyed had young children. "They were watching or had just watched their kids go through this development, and they were probably the most knowledgeable of anybody," lead study author Heather Paradis, a pediatric fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center, told HealthDay.

Parents of more than 10,000 9-month-olds were asked 11 questions in an effort to test their awareness of a baby's development. A third of the respondents answered four or more of the questions incorrectly. The results were presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies' meeting in Honolulu.

Learn when to expect developmental milestones. And keep up on the latest in child-rearing news and advice in Nancy Shute's On Parenting blog.

More Companies Market BPA-Free Plastic Products

Companies are increasingly marketing products that don't contain bisphenol A, a chemical used in hard, clear polycarbonate plastics that may pose health risks. Some parents whose children need baby bottles and sippy cups are replacing the items with BPA-free alternatives. And adults may also be exposed to BPA in water bottles, food storage containers, and even containers for canned food.

U.S. News provides a list of  resources for locating BPA-free products, and we invite you to submit your own suggestions.

—January W. Payne