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READ THIS NEXT: If You’re Using This Popular Dressing on Your Salad, Stop Now, FDA Warns. It’s the job of health agencies to ensure that companies are living up to the strict regulations and standards set to keep the public safe. And while plenty of focus goes into ensuring that no potentially harmful products make their way onto shelves, some items occasionally end up as the focus of a recall only after they’ve been shipped to stores and sold to customers....

RELATED: Never Use This Popular Ingredient When Cooking, CDC Warns. There are hundreds of food recalls every year, and experts say their numbers are on the rise. And while many consumers know to throw out tainted items, the CDC warns that doing so may not necessarily keep you safe. “If you have a recalled food item in your refrigerator, it’s important to throw out the food and clean your refrigerator,” says the CDC....

On Feb. 2, the FSIS issued a public health alert for raw beef produced by Greater Omaha Packing Co. Inc. Some of the affected beef, which was subsequently sold through Art’s Food Market in Sandwich, Illinois, tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, which can lead to serious, often life-threatening health issues, including abdominal cramps, dehydration, digestive issues, and kidney failure, the latter of which is most common in older adults and children under the age of 5....

RELATED: Never Do This Before Takeoff, Flight Attendant Warns. The most eventful crew interaction passengers may have for most flights could be a clever play on a safety instruction walkthrough or a humorous quip during drink service. On the other hand, hearing from the cockpit crew usually only happens when your plane reaches cruising altitude or your aircraft is either ahead or behind schedule. But if you ever overhear pilots using the term “pan-pan,” it could be a sign there’s a minor emergency on your flight....

RELATED: If You Live in These States, Brace Yourself for More Copperhead Snakes. A recent study published in the journal Biological Conservation used a model to predict how the great white shark population will trend in California. The researchers expect that there could be an increase in great white sharks off the central coast of the state, specifically in an area called the “red triangle,” which begins in Bodega Bay, extends to Farallon Islands, and ends just south of Monterey Bay....

READ THIS NEXT: How a Snake Can Get Into Your Home Through Your Toilet. Whether you have keen eyesight and a wealth of animal knowledge or not, it’s no secret that snakes can be one of the hardest creatures to spot in nature. Their slithering bodies and timid nature make them more likely to stay hidden than get in your way. But just like other animals, there is a way you can tell they’re in your yard before you actually see one....

RELATED: Never Put This on Your Meat After Barbecuing, CDC Warns. On Jan. 1, 2022, California will have some new animal welfare standards, which were approved in 2018 in a landslide vote on Proposition 12. But these new requirements could have a serious effect on the state’s bacon supply. Proposition 12 requires more space for pigs, chickens, and calves intended to be used for food. According to the new standards, the animals cannot be confined to the point that they can’t lie down, stand up, extend their limbs, or turn around without touching other animals or the walls of their stalls....

READ THIS NEXT: Never Eat a Piece of Fish If You See This on the Packaging, FDA Says. It may not be quite as fickle as avocados, but picking up a loaf of bread from the store can involve a complicated decision-making process to ensure its freshness. After all, there’s nothing worse than bringing home a product that’s only a few short days away from expiring and becoming inedible. But similar to other time-sensitive products, a few tricks can ensure your sourdough or whole wheat doesn’t go bad before you have a chance to finish it....

However, an early diagnosis and intervention—which may include an exercise regimen, medication, and lifestyle changes—are key to managing Parkinson’s symptoms. That’s why medical experts say to look out for subtle signs that could point to the disease, including minor changes in how you walk. There are four walking-related symptoms in particular that may suggest a Parkinson’s diagnosis, and you should talk to your doctor immediately if you notice any of them....

Experts say that, while facial masking can sometimes be the result of stiffness around the cheeks and mouth, one particularly subtle change that many Parkinson’s patients experience in their eyes is sometimes to blame. Frequently flying under the radar, this strange eye symptom can cause vision loss and increased discomfort over time. Read on to learn about this early sign of Parkinson’s Disease, and how it may affect you. RELATED: 96 Percent of People With Parkinson’s Have This in Common, Study Says....

“CDC recommends that people get vaccinated even if they have a history of severe allergic reactions not related to vaccines or injectable medications,” the agency says on its website. However, “if you have had an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—to a vaccine or injectable therapy for another disease, ask your doctor if you should get a COVID-19 vaccine.” And, to be extra cautious, anyone who gets vaccinated is monitored for 15 minutes after their injection to be sure they’re not having a severe allergic reaction....

Several local news outlets recently reported that many Americans are claiming to have only received half the amount of stimulus money that they were expecting—particularly in the case of families with two income earners. The phenomenon is widespread enough that it spawned a Facebook group, “Half Stimulus Missing/Received Status,” which has more than 6,800 members as of March 22. And for more stimulus guidance, If You’re Waiting on a Stimulus Check, Read This Before Filing Your Taxes....

RELATED: 40 Things You Should Stop Wearing Over 40. While jeans and a T-shirt may have been the go-to, comfort-casual look in your thirties and forties, it might not be right for you in your fifties. A study from U.K.-based delivery service CollectPlus advised people 53 and older to toss out their denim, per Reader’s Digest. Finding a pair that fits can be challenging since your body changes by that age....

For the new study, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet, a team of scientists out of Denmark’s Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention looked at the reinfection rate among 4 million Danes during the second surge of COVID-19 from Sept. 2020 through the end of Dec. 2020. While there were few instances of reinfection, the numbers skewed heavily depending on age: Young people seemed to have around 80 percent protection against reinfection, but that number fell sharply down to 47 percent among those over the age of 65....

A July 2020 study from the Mayo Clinic—which has not yet been peer-reviewed—examined over 137,000 medical records and found a correlation that suggests vaccines can help protect you from COVID, and not just the shots targeted at the virus. During a Feb. 17 interview with CBS, study co-author Andrew Badley, MD, said the research concluded that people who have received various vaccines in recent years could be at a lower risk of contracting coronavirus....

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a list of things you should “mention to your vaccination provider” before getting either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine—and that includes having a bleeding disorder or taking a blood thinner. Jason Reed, PharmD, founder of BestRxForSavings, says this is because blood thinners make you “more likely to have bruising, or bleeding under the skin, at the injection site.” Aaron Emmel, PharmD, founder and program director of PharmacyTechScholar, says your vaccination provider will be able to properly monitor the injection site for signs of excessive bleeding or bruising, otherwise known as a hematoma, if you let them know you are on a blood thinner....

RELATED: If You Notice This on a Potato, Don’t Eat It, Experts Warn. Although many people buy canned pre-cooked beans, others purchase dry beans to prepare themselves. Opting for dry beans is cheaper, produces less waste, and can help you moderate your sodium intake. However, experts warn that preparing your own beans could be dangerous if not done correctly. “Raw beans … contain lectins, which are naturally occurring in plants, but the lectins in raw beans are toxic,” family doctor Kristina Hendija, MD, explains....

If your breath has a strong, musty smell—similar to rotten eggs and garlic—it can be a sign your liver is having difficulty filtering out toxins, an issue that likely stems from liver disease, Nancy Moyer, MD, wrote for Healthline. The condition, fetor hepaticus—which is nicknamed “breath of the dead”—is a result of toxic sulfur substances making their way into other parts of your body. “When blood doesn’t pass easily through your liver, the toxic substances that would usually be filtered out by your liver make their way to other parts of your body, including your lungs,” Moyer explains....

READ THIS NEXT: Walmart Is Banning Shoppers From Doing This in 4 States, as of Next Year. Most department stores have struggled in the retail space as consumers have moved further away from shopping malls. JCPenney is no different, and the threat of potential extinction has prompted constant change from the department store over the last decade or so, Retail Dive reported. According to the news outlet, JCPenney has had five different chief executives in the last decade, each with their own ideas about reinventing the company to keep it alive amid financial downturns....

Garth, who got her diagnosis at the age of 47, is far from alone. Verywell Health reports that over 22 percent of adults in the United States suffer from arthritis (or another rheumatic condition), and about 30 percent of them are between the ages of 45 and 64. In fact, arthritis is “the most common cause of disability in America,” reports the site. Still, Garth was taken aback by the diagnosis....