winner takes all

dietary supplements:

more dietary supplements (usually advertised for sexual health) have been recalled for containing undeclared prescription drugs. at least one of these recalls affects products sold in canada. you should probably make a habit of searching "[supplement name] site:fda.gov". maybe slightly a funny, one of them was called "launch sequence"...as in...for your pocket rocket.

dietary supplements, including ones sold in stores such as vitamin supplements, are not approved or inspected by the FDA before sale and are not regulated the same way as food and drugs. the FDA tells dietary supplement companies to investigate themselves before selling any given product, which inevitably often contain undeclared allergens, undeclared ingredients, undeclared drug ingredients, undeclared prescription ingredients, contamination, and even lie about the potency of their supplements. and this is only when these companies get CAUGHT by the FDA, which can be years after a product launches on the market. these issues are not exclusive to aphrodisiacs sold on aliexpress, and even apply to over the counter vitamin C.

biotin (vitamin b7) can make you false negative covid-19 tests, and can make many other medical tests inaccurate.

drugs:

banana boat 30spf spray-on sunscreen has been recalled due to testing positive benzene, a cancer-causing substance

the recall of magnesium citrate based laxatives due to contamination with dangerous bacteria has expanded beyond just lemon flavors. there have been multiple reports of severe illness. this bacteria usually only harms those with reduced immune function.

even more magnesium citrate laxative recalls, and this recall is WORLDWIDE. repeating again, the magnesium citrate laxative recall is worldwide

plakiston healthcare expands june recall of milk of magnesia, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, simethicone oral suspension due to microbial contamination.

june 6: lymphoma medicine ukoniq (umbralisib) had its FDA approval removed and has been taken off the market due to being unsafe, after several months of investigating reports of increased risk of death.

back in april a nationwide recall was issued due to injections for testosterone, tacrolimus, cyclosporine, gonadorelin, and gonadoraline acetate from APS pharmacy/drug depot llc due to not being sterile. these recalls affected both human and animal supplies.

warnings, communications, shortages, and more:

june 21: FDA announces a committee meeting later this year to address how pulse oximeters (usually finger clamps) are WAY less accurate on darker skin due to not being calibrated for darker skin. incorrect pulse oximeter readings continue to prevent patients from receiving adequate and sometimes life-saving care, because the devices claimed the patients were doing better than they actually were. the racial bias in these devices is very dangerous.

june 30: FDA issued a warning that cancer drug copiktra (duvelisib) can cause severe side effects, including death.

FDA issued a medical device safety communication about UV disinfectant wands having unsafe levels of radiation and do not abide by safety regulations. these are sold nationwide and potentially worldwide, in stores and online. they can cause injury within a few seconds. one familiar included brand is sharper image.

stop using neck floats on babies. "Neck floats are inflatable plastic rings that can be worn around a baby’s neck and allow babies to float freely in water. Some neck floats are marketed for babies as young as two weeks old or premature babies and are designed to cradle a baby's head while their body moves freely in the water." these can decapitate your baby

when testing for monkeypox, use swabs from the skin lesions (boils, cuts, etc). do not use tests taken from saliva, blood, or anywhere other than the skin. there is not enough data showing that tests swabs from places other than lesions are accurate.

april 2022 but still important: FDA has found a link between pediatric iodine contrast exposure and hypothyroidism.

FDA's website lists over 120 drugs currently experiencing shortages, many of them due to increased demand. the FDA website is also experiencing technical difficulties.

there are also shortages of medical devices, equipment, and protective gear for reasons such as increased demand and products being discontinued

updates:

the investigation into cheerios and lucky charms is still open, active, and ongoing. no cause has been found yet. it is unclear how many products have been affected and no products have been recalled. reports of illness continue. investigation #1064

if you did not get sick from cheerios or lucky charms, congratulations, you just found out that not everyone gets sick from many types of food poisoning. the investigation is still ongoing and active with no indication of how many products are affected, or what they are affected with.

the FDA has not issued an updated statement on why daily harvest or revive superfoods are giving people liver problems to the point of needing surgery.

I am never fucking shopping at family dollar again unless I feel like consuming dead rat juice. it is absolutely repulsive how many times they get caught doing unsafe and potentially deadly things with their products.

misc

covid-19 tests have a significant chance of false negative, sometimes ABOVE 50%. yes, even PCR tests can tell you that you do not have covid-19 when you actually do, which is what a false negative is. a positive result means you probably have covid-19. negative result on a covid-19 test means you probably have a nose. at home tests (rapid antigen testing, aka RATs) cannot detect the majority of asymptomatic covid-19 cases. over a 60% false negative rate what the absolute shitting fuck. false negatives will increase as covid-19 continues to mutate.

30% of covid-19 cases, including those which are asymptomatic and vaccinated, get long covid. link is from dysautonomia international, which is a worldwide leader in researching, treating, and educating about causes and triggers of autonomic dysfunction like coronaviruses. they recently wrapped up an international medical conference with a heavy focus on the many long-term effects of covid-19 and how to diagnose and treat them. I attended this conference, and I will post when the dysautonomia international presentations become available to the public.

my tag for food and drugs is #fo&dr. I keep forgetting to add things to it, though.

resources:

report and track local cases of food poisoning: iwaspoisoned

report unsafe practices, adverse effects, food poisoning: FDA

subscribe to alerts for recalls

safe food handling

food information by topic

USDA foodkeeper app

not directly related to FDA stuff, but if you are feeling overwhelmed, I curated a reading list to learn about stationery.

whew! this took a long time to write.

if you want to toss me a coin for compiling this information, please only do so if you are financially stable, comfortable, and will not otherwise impacted by giving me money. food poisoning has played a big role in my health being eviscerated, so I am glad just to know I have been able to help others.