Health Highlights: Oct. 9, 2015

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Organic Cheese Recalled by Whole Foods Market

Possible listeria contamination has led to the recall of all cut, wrapped and weighed Papillon organic Roquefort cheese sold at Whole Foods Market stores across the United States.

Listeria infection (listeriosis) can cause serious, life-threatening illness.

Whole Foods Market announced the recall after routine sampling conducted by the Food and Drug Administration detected listeria in a whole, uncut wheel of the cheese. The recalled cheese was cut and packaged in clear plastic wrap and sold with Whole Foods Market scale labels that begin with PLU 029536.

No illnesses or infections associated with the recalled cheese have been reported, according to Whole Foods Market. For more information, consumers can contact their local store or call 512-477-5566 ext. 20060 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

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Organic Produce Reduces Pesticide Levels in Children: Study

Eating organic fruits and vegetables leads to a significant decline in the amount of pesticides and herbicides in children’s bodies, a new study says.

It included 20 children in Oakland, Calif. and 20 children in the agricultural community of Salinas, about 100 miles south of Oakland. The youngsters ate conventional produce for four days, organic produce for seven days, and then conventional produce again for five days, The New York Times reported.

While the children were on the organic diet, their urine samples showed a nearly 50 percent decline in two of six of the most frequently detected pesticides, and a 25 percent drop in levels of a common herbicide.

The study was published in the October issue of the journal Environmental and Health Perspectives.

“There’s evidence that diet is one route of exposure to pesticides, and you can reduce your exposure by choosing organic food,” study lead author, Asa Bradman, associate director, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health, University of California, Berkeley, told The Times.

“But I would never say that conventional fruits and vegetables are unsafe. They’re all healthy,” Bradman added.

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Stem Cells Used to Grow Kidney and Intestine

Two groups of scientists made important advances in the quest to use stem cells to enable patients to grow their own organs for transplant.

An Australian team grew a primitive kidney and an American team created rudimentary intestines, NBC News reported.

The studies appear in the journals Nature and Regenerative Medicine, respectively.

The goal is to find a way to use a patient’s stem cells to create lab-grown organs that are a perfect genetic match for that patient, NBC News reported.

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