The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released three new guidance documents that aim to reduce antibiotics in animal feed through voluntary industry limits, giving drug companies three years to phase out the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in food-producing animals.

Arsenic has been found in some foods that use organic brown rice syrup as a sweetener, including infant formula and cereal bars, according to a new study by researchers at Dartmouth College. The majority of the detected arsenic, a contaminant often found in rice, was the type that is known to be a human carcinogen.

Nearly 7,000 consumers joined Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, in a recent petition supporting regulatory efforts to set national, industry-wide targets to reduce sodium in processed and restaurant foods.

Shipments of orange juice from Canada have been stopped at the border after testing by the Food and Drug Administration found low levels of the fungicide carbendazim, which is banned in the U.S. and was previously found in orange juice product shipments from Brazil.

After fungicide was discovered in orange juice products from Brazil, the Food and Drug Administration blocked orange juice product imports, so that it could test for the fungicide carbendazim, which studies have linked to a higher risk of liver tumors in animals.

Leasa Industries, of Miami, FL is recalling 346 cases of its Leasa Living Alfalfa Sprouts because of potential Salmonella contamination, the Food and Drug Administration reported today.

UPDATE: Senior scientist at Consumer Reports discusses the halt on shipments of orange juice. See below.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall warning for shrink-wrapped bundles of Martinelli's Gold Medal Sparkling Cider. The 250-mL sized bottles of sparkling apple cider have defect seals "that could break when opening," said the federal agency.

A recent multi-state outbreak of E. coli was not caused by raw eggs or dairy products, but instead to raw flour in prepackaged cookie dough, according to new research published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

When Consumer Reports tested 88 samples of apple juice and grape juice for lead and arsenic, we not only measured levels of total arsenic, but we also conducted additional tests to identify what forms of arsenic were present or detected in those juice samples, which were purchased in August and September 2011 in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut by Consumer Reports staffers.

A new federally funded study of more than 200 pregnant women receiving prenatal care in the New Hampshire area reports a link between rice consumption and elevated levels of arsenic in urine, suggesting that “many people in the United States may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of arsenic through rice consumption,” according to the study led by researchers at Dartmouth’s Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center.

Front Row Produce of St. Louis MO, has recalled its 10-ounce pint and 10-pound bulk grape tomatoes, supplied by Rio Queen Citrus because of potential Salmonella contamination, the Food and Drug Administration announced today.

Ocean Spray has issued a recall of its Craisins Dried Cranberry product after the company discovered certain lots of the dried cranberries may contain "very small hair-like metal fragments."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall alert for canisters of GFS brand sugar made by Diamond Crystal Brands in Savannah, Ga. The 12-ounce canisters are not filled with sugar but with a powdered non-dairy creamer, which may cause serious or life-threatening reactions among consumers with sensitivity to milk products.

New product tests by researchers with the Breast Cancer Fund suggest the presence of the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, in several canned foods that you may rely on to prepare a typical Thanksgiving dinner.