HEALTH

NEW YORK — It appears that even the “King of All Media” Howard Stern gets his news from Drug Store News. Traffic on the site spiked earlier this month when a DrugStoreNews.com story made it into Stern sidekick Robin Quivers’ daily news rundown and was linked to the Stern Web page under the “It’s Time for Robin’s News” section in the rundown for the satellite radio program’s Thursday, Dec.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tops Markets, which operates 132 stores in western New York and Pennsylvania, is offering customers a new service to help them make healthier eating choices and develop better habits, according to a report by The Buffalo News.

WASHINGTON — Though most might associate the Internal Revenue Service with the Grinch, the IRS came through with a last-minute Christmas present for retailers stung by changes in the tax code related to consumers’ use of flexible spending and health reimbursement accounts to purchase approved OTC products.

PRINCETON, N.J. — In an unconventional move for a maker of consumer healthcare products, Church & Dwight’s Trojan condom brand will be a first-time exhibitor at the 2011 International Consumer Electronic Show. The company plans to use the highly publicized event to unveil a host of new products, including a multitip personal massager and “the new thinnest latex condom in brand history,” according to the company.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A&D Medical on Wednesday announced the launch of the company’s new corporate website. AnDonline.com reinforces the A&D vision of "... Clearly a Better Value" for customers, the company stated.

BOSTON — Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health and collaborators from other institutions have identified a natural substance in dairy fat that substantially may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. 

Reporting in the Dec. 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, investigators led by Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at HSPH, explained that the compound trans-palmitoleic acid is a fatty acid found in milk, cheese, yogurt and butter that is not produced by the body.

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Food Safety Modernization Act by a vote of 215-144 to wide industry aplomb.

The bill now only needs President Barack Obama’s signature to become law.

If signed into law, the food safety bill will require biennial registration of all food manufacturing facilities, will provide the Food and Drug Administration with new authority to mandate food recalls and will require companies to develop food safety plans.

MADISON, Wis. — An over-the-counter herbal supplement believed to improve immunity function has minimal impact in relieving the common cold, according to research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health released Monday.

The study, published in this month's Annals of Internal Medicine, found that echinacea reduced the duration of the cold by seven to 10 hours. Bruce Barrett, lead researcher and associated professor of family medicine suggested that was not considered a significant decrease.