People who ate a serving of canned soup every day for five days had BPA levels of 20.8 micrograms per liter of urine, whereas people who instead ate fresh soup had levels of 1.1 micrograms per liter, researchers said. When they compared the average person who ate canned soup to the average person who ate fresh soup, there was a 1,221 percent jump in levels of BPA.

The study noted that levels higher than 13 micrograms per liter were found in only the top 5 percent of participants in the National Health and Examination Survey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs this study on an ongoing basis.

Only several studies have examined BPA levels in canned foods, and most of those have only surveyed study participants to see many canned items they eat on a regular basis.

Do you eat canned foods often?

The restroom sink

More bacteria lingers around the sink than the door handle or the toilet handle in public restroom. Since people touch the faucet handle immediately after using the toilet, bacteria collects in this location. The soap may also harbor germs, particularly when refillable soap dispensers are used.

Escalator handrails

Think twice before you steady yourself with the escalator handrail. Recent testing found E. coli, urine, mucus, feces, and blood on escalator handrails. If you must use the handrail, keep hand sanitizer handy for afterward.

Fitting rooms

The clothes you try on have probably been tried on before. Skin cells and perspiration are often left behind, serving as food for bacterial growth. Wear full-coverage underwear, especially when trying on pants, and bandage cuts or wounds before putting on a piece of clothing.

Makeup samples

A 2005 study found that between 67% and 100% of makeup-counter testers were contaminated with bacteria, including staph, strep, and E. coli. It’s best to buy makeup before trying it on, then return if the shade is off.

What are your best germ-avoiding tips while shopping?

The Dutch findings, published in the European Heart Journal, suggest many women needlessly take the drug. Researchers say 50 women will need to take the medication for 10 years for just one to be helped — and only if they are at high risk of heart attacks or strokes to begin with.

The researchers 28,000 healthy women age 45 and above who had received either aspirin or dummy pills in an earlier U.S. trial. Overall, aspirin cut the rate of heart attacks, strokes and death from heart disease from 2.4 percent to 2.2 percent.

The new study contradicts advice from leading medical groups like the American Heart Association. Dutch researchers did say that women over the age of 65 tend to benefit more than average from taking aspirin regularly.

Do you take aspirin regularly?

The study used data on nearly 190,000 patients who underwent a variety of surgeries at 183 hospitals between 2005 and 2006. Overall, 2,245 or 1.7 percent of people in the study died within 30 days of surgery. Even when researchers adjusted the statistics for type of surgery and other risk factors, those with a low BMI still had a greater risk of dying within the first month of surgery.

Researchers weren’t sure of the reason why people with a lower BMI were at a higher risk post-surgery. One researcher speculated that since the study did not track weight loss before the surgery, people who weighed less may have been sicker to begin with. Either way, the study indicates that doctors should factor in BMI while making surgery decisions.

Do you have a low BMI?

Researchers, from the Rand Corporation and the Harvard School of Public Health looked at three sites that were trying to implement a bundling methodology developed by the nonprofit Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute. They found that the efforts moved along slowly, with none of the providers receiving a bundled payment in the two to three years of study.

Software errors and issues with the claims departments made it difficult to develop payment rates, while insurers’ processes for processing claims didn’t work well with bundling methods. One of the sites mentioned in the study now has a contract for bundled knee-replacement payments that will take effect in January.

The first juice bars will open on the West Coast in early to mid-2012, but the company did not say how many were planned. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz made his plans known to enter the estimated $50 billion health food market, although it isn’t known whether the company will use its familiar Mermaid logo on the new chain.

San Bernardino, California-based Evolution Fresh sells fruit and vegetable juices and was started by the founder of Naked Juice. It uses a heat-free, high-pressure pasteurization process that it says retains more of the nutrients in its products compared with using conventional heat pasteurization.

Starbucks will eventually invest in Evolution Fresh’s facility upgrades, and expects to sell the products in its own retail stores. “We think we can build a major business,” Schultz said.

Will you purchase products from a Starbucks juice bar?

Large-scale wind currents moving from Asia to Japan and around the North Pacific could be the root of the problem. Researchers discovered the number of Kawasaki disease cases increased in Japan when the wind blew in a southwesterly direction, and decreased when winds blew from the south. They also found the numbers of cases peaked from November to March when air from Central Asia blew over Japan and reached as far as Hawaii and San Diego.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that around 5,000 to 6,000 American children get the disease every year, most under the age of 5. Children with the disease are treated with a high dose of antibodies, but 10 to 20 percent of those with the disease end up with coronary artery damage.

If a child’s fever lasts beyond five days and includes a rash, red eyes, and lips, have him or her checked out for Kawasaki disease.

Do you know someone with this disease?

A review of more than 160 studies published Wednesday suggests that while cutting down on salt reduces blood pressure in people who have normal or high blood pressure, it also causes increases in hormones and compounds that can negatively impact health.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the leading causes of strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases, which combined form the biggest killers worldwide and claim more than 17 million lives a year.

A different review published in July came to a similar conclusion: British researchers found no evidence that small reductions in salt intake lowered the risk of developing heart disease or dying prematurely. U.S. dietary guidelines currently recommend Americans consume less than 2.3g of sodium daily, or 1.5g for certain people who are more at risk of high blood pressure or heart disease. A teaspoon of salt, or roughly 5g, holds around 2.3g of sodium.

Do you keep track of how much salt you consume?

Eating candy bit by bit, every few hours, day after day, keeps your teeth bathed in enamel-corroding acid. This may lead to dental caries, or cavities. If kids eat ten pieces of candy in a short period of time, saliva will neutralize the acid over the course of an hour so. Spread those candy bars out over ten days, and the teeth are being constantly exposed to the harmful acid.

Still, dentists are recommending a good brushing after every candy gorging episode. Sour candies do the most damage to teeth, so consider switching to less-corrosive chocolate. Of course, the recommendation to eat lots of candy at one time only applies to oral health: kids may take in lots of unnecessary calories without nutrients if they eat their entire stash of treats the day after Halloween.

Will you encourage your kids to eat lots of candy?

The study tracked 180,000 non-smokers for 26 years. Throughout the study period, 1,100 people died from lung cancer. The participants lived in all 50 states and in Puerto Rico, and based on their zip codes, the researchers estimated how much air pollution they were exposed to, ranging from a low of about six units to a high of 38.

After the researchers accounted for other cancer risk factors, such as second-hand smoke and radon exposure, they found that for every 10 extra units of air pollution exposure, a person’s risk of lung cancer rose by 15 to 27 percent. In all cases, the levels of pollution were within regulatory standards.

Do you live in an area with high pollution?

The peer-reviewed report published in the Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety journal relies on research funded by the Pew Health Group, the health and consumer safety branch of the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts. The group is looking to make the food safety process more transparent, and make data on the health impact of certain foods publicly available. In many cases, they say, the FDA has not reviewed this data.

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires manufacturers to make sure food ingredients are safe. Companies can classify an ingredient as “generally recognized as safe” for use in a specific product but aren’t required to tell the Food and Drug Administration about what they find.

Do you think food safety needs to be more transparent?

The candy contains a compound called glycyrrhizin, which lends it a sweet flavor. But eating only two ounces of black licorice daily for two weeks could cause a heart arrhythmia, since it causes the kidneys to excrete potassium. Low levels of potassium can make the heart beat irregularly fast or out of sync, health authorities say.

People taking diuretics, digoxin and laxatives should be especially cautious when consuming the treat. The combination of the candy with these medications can drive potassium down to dangerously low levels. Other studies suggest that women taking oral contraceptives should practice moderation with black licorice because of the potassium effect.

However, the FDA’s warning applies to everyone: young, old, at Halloween or at any other time of the year.

Do you eat black licorice?

The study was a follow-up of an earlier large-scale cancer prevention trial conducted three years ago. The trial was stopped after researchers couldn’t determine that supplements of vitamin E, selenium or a combination of the two nutrients could prevent prostate cancer. In the follow-up, about half the trial’s original 35,000-plus participants found a 17% increase in prostate cancer, compared with men who took a placebo. For every 1,000 men, 76 who took vitamin E supplements got prostate cancer, compared with 65 men who took placebo.

The study authors weren’t clear on why vitamin E appeared to raise the risk of cancer. The recommended dietary allowance of vitamin E is currently 15 milligrams for adults. Prostate cancer is the cause of about 34,000 deaths in the U.S. annually.

The lenses were recalled on August 19 after some users experienced “haziness and discomfort.” The contact lenses were sold at stores like Costco, Walmart, and Lenscrafters. Customers can log into CooperVision’s website to check the complete list of retailers and affected lots.

The FDA has contacted CooperVision and asked them to increase efforts to notify customers. According to an MSNBC report, some have ended up in the emergency room after using the defective lenses. The recall affected about 600,000 contact lenses, or 10 percent of those sold or issued as samples in the United States.

Do you wear Avaira Toric contact lenses?

About 411,700 strollers in the United States and 27,000 in Canada are being recalled. In February, 357,000 units were recalled due to strangulation hazard posed by the canopy drawstring.

The stroller company has received six reports of children mouthing the detached panel on the single and double strollers. Choking and gagging has been reported twice, B.O.B. Inc. reported.

Do you own a B.O.B. stroller?

Researchers studied 1,016 adults age 70 or older in the small town of Uppsala, Sweden. Participants were tested for a total of 23 toxins, some of which had been banned. Participants’ levels of exposure to pollutants were then compared to the health of their arteries.

A strong link was found between seven of the 23 environmental pollutants tested and plaque build-up in the carotid artery. When plaque accumulates on the inner walls of the coronary arteries, it may reduce blood flow to the heart and increase the risk of a heart attack.

The researchers recommended that potential environmental pollutants be investigated further to lower the risk of heart disease. They will continue to follow study participants to see whether exposure to the pollutants raises the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Are you concerned about environmental pollutants?