Food and Drug Administration

Kasel Associates Industries, subject of smell complaints, recalls more pet treats

Back in December, we told you about a group of neighbors in RiNo who have been raising a stink over what they say are "putrid" smells coming from a pet treat factory called Kasel Associates Industries. The same month that the factory's owner sued the neighbors for harassment, batches of his products ... More >>

RiNo neighbors are raising a stink about factory smells in their ’hood

See also: "Smells like dead animals" and other complaints made about a pet treat factory in RiNo

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Marijuana: THC-infused jerky being removed from dispensary shelves over USDA rule?

The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division confirms that an investigation is underway involving meat products infused with THC, the active ingredient of marijuana. In the meantime, multiple sources tell us that meat products like a jerky made by local firm Benjamin's Edibles are being removed from m ... More >>

Eating and living organic: Q&A with Brian Freeman, co-founder of Grower's Organics

Colorado stands at the forefront of the nation's organic movement, and Grower's Organic is helping to lead the way, finding organic suppliers and then connecting these farms with retail outlets, delivering fresh fruits and vegetables to more than 150 restaurants, grocery stores and local co-operativ ... More >>

The gluten-free crust at Domino's Pizza is actually gluten-free!

Many things in the food industry are not at all what they appear to be. Things like healthy green salads covered in cheese, bacon bits, croutons and ranch dressing; the servers at TGI Fridays who aren't always thrilled beyond measure to see your asses plopped in their sections; and those "Grapple" ... More >>

Diana DeGette and Henry Waxman request listeria outbreak investigation

U.S. Representative Diana DeGette didn't just fall off the turnip truck. She's been concerned about food safety throughout her tenure in Congress, and yesterday, she and California Representative Henry Waxman sent a letter demanding a full investigation into the listeria contamination that's already ... More >>

Marijuana PTSD study roadblock example of feds' schizophrenia, says Brian Vicente

Last year, Colorado's health department refused to approve medical marijuana for treating post-traumatic stress disorder -- but one branch of the federal government appeared ready to test pot's PTSD effectiveness. Now, however, the plan's on hold, much to the chagrin of Brian Vicente, who's long fou ... More >>

THC driving limit: Task Force member says no recommendation wouldn't stop new bill

​Yesterday, the Drug Policy Task Force met to consider THC driving limits. The DUID-marijuana working group studying the subject couldn't agree on a proposal last week, and Task Force member Senator Pat Steadman thinks its inability to do so may prevent THC-driving legislation from being bless ... More >>

Melatonin-laced brownies and cookies launch market for relaxation edibles

​Having trouble sleeping? Rather than popping an Ambien, why not have a melatonin-laced brownie?

U.S. Senate makes it one step closer to eating safe food

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plumdearly/3048306829/​ Your food got a lot safer yesterday -- theoretically, at least. By a convincing 73 to 25 vote, the Senate passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which give the FDA more power to mandate recalls and do more frequent inspections.

Life in the post-Four Loko world: alcoholic whipped cream, like Whipped Lightning, becomes the next subject of FDA scrutiny

​It's only been a few weeks since we bid adieu to the Four Loko and friends, those caffeinated malt beverages that caused an uproar after a couple of idiots young people became severely intoxicated (which has never happened with any other alcohol in the history of mankind). Now, clearly deter ... More >>

Corn syrup by any other name....still tastes as icky sweet: Our top five

​With the advent of processed byproducts, the cheap way to sweeten products has been alchemy: turning American corn into a sugar substitute. But "high fructose corn syrup" has acquired a very bad reputation in the last few years, and now the Corn Refiners Association has petitioned the U.S. Fo ... More >>

Lufthansa testing high-altitude tastes to improve airline meals

​There's bad food, and then there's airline food, barely edible foil-wrapped meals that command a category of terrible taste all to themselves. Unsurprisingly, a couple of airlines out there are realizing that if they improve the quality of their meals a bit, especially in first class, they'l ... More >>

Marijuana-book giveaway: Mason Tvert offers DARE instructors tome saying weed's SAFER

Mason Tvert.​Mason Tvert, the main man behind SAFER, lives to promote the theory that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol -- and if he can hype his book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? at the same time, that's even better. These goals come together in Tvert's la ... More >>

Would you like a roach or rodent with your meal, sir? FDA finds those and more in airline catering company kitchens

​Jesus. It's not horrible enough cruising at altitude with a full two inches of legroom, a middle seater with flatulence and seat belts slimed with Jell-O. Now FDA inspectors are unearthing everything from fruit flies and ants to live roaches and dead rodents in the country's airline catering ... More >>

No excuses: My genes made me do it

​Suzanne C. O'Neill, an assistant professor with the Cancer Control Program at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, has co-authored a study whose finding is the non-surprising: We'll use any excuse we can. Her research found that the least healthy people surveyed exc ... More >>

Hold the sprouts! A new produce recall includes Colorado

A Flickr photo​Another day, another nationwide recall. This time around the blame is being placed on a usual suspect: alfalfa sprouts. Three different name brands of sprouts have been deemed responsible for a recent salmonella outbreak that, at last count, had stricken at least one Colorado ... More >>

Rage drummer Brad Wilk signs bottles of Olade this weekend

​"I was on tour with U2 in 1997, and I woke up one morning and I had lost my eyesight by like 50 percent," remembers Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk. "I just felt horrible -- like I had a hangover, but I hadn't been drinking." When he finished the tour, Wilk went to the doctor and ... More >>

Mile Highs and Lows: Fresh Baked Dispensary

​As Colorado's medical-marijuana industry grows, marijuana dispensaries of all types and sizes are proliferating around the state. Some resemble swanky bars or sterile dentist offices; others feel like a dope dealer's college dorm room. To help keep them all straight, Westword will be offering ... More >>

Denver's Skychefs could be grounded

Depending on the airline, this might be your best bet​As if flying could get any more miserable, there's one more complication in the "friendly skies." Late last month, the FDA sent a warning letter to LSG Skychefs, LLC, indicating that Skychefs' FDA inspection status had been changed from " ... More >>

One last kernel of the Colorado "Popcorn lung" case

Beware all ye who enter here...​It could be the asbestos of our generation: "Popcorn Lung" now has a website dedicated to victims of this dreaded "disease" (in truth, it's a law firm's site encouraging potential litigation) -- and the phenomenon began in our own back yard. Although the medic ... More >>

Total recall: popcorn, popcorn and more popcorn from Snax in Pax

​The FDA recalls thousands of products each year, presumably so that no one gets numb to all the hysteria. But when it's popcorn that's been pulled from the shelves, especially during the time of year when popcorn balls and popcorn strands and big bins of popcorn, caramel corn and cheese corn ... More >>

Total Recall: Slim Fast is the latest yank from the FDA

Slim-Fast. Now with harmful micro-organisms​As an ongoing public service, we would like to draw your attention to another FDA food recall. (As we reported here last week, the FDA recently recalled nearly 111,000 pounds of frozen beef steak fritter.) Why? Because any opportunity to explore the ... More >>

Marijuana advocate Mason Tvert launches petition targeting drug czar

SAFER's Mason Tvert thinks drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has some splainin' to do.​

Can cannabis cure swine flu?

Take a hit of this, H1N1 sufferers.​Does cannabis contain the magic ingredient that will keep swine flu from sweeping the planet? A Colorado Springs company has (yes, you knew it was coming) high hopes. Cannabis Science, Inc. is announcing today that it's "made key progress with mapping out i ... More >>

CU study says decline in depression diagnoses is depressing

Robert J. Valuck. Picked up the Archives of General Psychiatry issue for June yet? I haven't, because I had no idea the publication existed until a few minutes ago. But WebMD reports that the edition includes an interesting study by University of Colorado academics like Robert J. Valuck and Anne L ... More >>

Milking It: Strawberry Chex

Diane DeGette Testifies on a Hot Topic

Forbidden Fruit

Take a Chill Pill

Wahoo’s Fish Taco

High-octane margs fuel enlightenment.

Chasing the Green Fairy

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

Throwing Fitz

The move to Fitzsimons was supposed to send CU's Health Sciences Center sailing into the 21st century. So why are so many doctors jumping ship?

Drunk of the Week

Hops Grillhouse and Brewery

The Beatdown

Nobody in particular knows the trouble these guys have seen.

Check, Please!

Readers give our food critic something to chew on.

Love's Recipe

Allie’s Cabin offers a meal that arouses several appetites.

The Strange Case of Dr. Schmidt

He worked wonders with chronic-pain patients. So why was the university so eager to get rid of him?

The Bite

Area shoppers give in to the power of cheese.

The Bite

Still game to try venison despite disease scares.

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

It's been banned for nearly a hundred years, but the Green Muse still inspires Denver bootleggers.

A Bitter Pill

Vitamin crusaders burned out of a right-wing radio station find the official version of events tough to swallow.

The Big Queasy

The junk-food guinea pigs of Grand Junction have had some strange gut reactions to olestra.

Out for Blood

It's the most precious fluid on Earth -- and the most feared. Will your next transfusion be a stranger's blood or a solution called Optro?

MAKING BRAIN WAVES

A BOULDER BIOTECH FIRM BATTLES THE FDA BUREAUCRACY.

MOUTHING OFF

THE HEP-C GENERATION

MOUTHING OFF