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FDA proposes more calorie count information

It could get harder to indulge in a double cheeseburger and fries without feeling guilty.

Menu labeling requirements proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration will require chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, along with bakeries, grocery stores, convenience stores and coffee chains, to clearly post the calorie count for each item on their menus.

"We've got a huge obesity problem in this country and it's due in part to excess calorie consumption outside the home," says Mike Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods. "Consumers generally when you ask them say they would prefer to have that information."

The new rules will apply to menus, both in restaurants and drive-through lanes. They will also apply to vending machines if calorie information isn't already visible on the package.

The calorie counts will apply to an estimated 280,000 establishments and could be on menus by 2012. Required as part of health overhaul legislation signed into law last year, they are designed to give restaurant diners information that has long been available on packaged goods cooked at home. The FDA estimates that a third of calories are consumed by eating out.

But don't expect calorie shock when ordering at the movie theater, where a tub of popcorn can contain well north of a thousand calories — movie theaters are exempt, along with airplanes, bowling alleys and other businesses whose primary business is not to sell food, according to the FDA. Movie theaters pushed to be left out after guidelines published last year included them.

Alcohol will also be exempted, according to the agency. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, says that could be misleading to consumers.

"I think it's going to be confusing if customers see the calories for soft drinks and juice labeled on the menu but not other drinks such as beer and wine," she said. "It will make it seem like they are better choices."

Still, Wootan says the guidelines are a positive step.

"You won't have to get out of line and go back to some poster by the bathroom and look at some item in a tiny font size," she says. "It will be right there on the menu where you are getting your other information about what to order."

The idea is to make sure that customers process the calorie information as they are figuring out what to eat. Many restaurants currently post nutritional information in a hallway, on a hamburger wrapper or on their website. The new law will make calories immediately available for most items.

Menus and menu boards will also tell diners that a 2,000-calorie diet is used as the basis for general nutrition advice, noting that individual calorie needs may vary.

The labeling requirements were added to the health bill with the support of the restaurant industry, which is facing a smattering of laws from cities and states. New York City was the first in the country to put a calorie posting law in place. Since then, California, Seattle and other places have done so.

Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, said the calorie postings will provide customers with consistent information.

"The new standard," she said, "will help chain restaurants provide the same type of nutrition information to consumers in any part of the country."

Iraq diverts F-16 budget for food rations

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraq has postponed the planned purchase of 18 F-16 fighter planes from the United States this year and diverted the funds to feeding the poor, an official said on Monday, amid growing protests that have been inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

"The F-16 contract has been postponed this year and the money has been diverted toward improving food rations" for the poor, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh told AFP.

"Mo more fighter contract," he added.

"In the new draft budget for 2011 that was presented to us, $900 million was earmarked for the purchase of F-16s, which will be used to finance rations and social benefits," confirmed Mohammed Khalil, a Kurdish MP who is a member of parliament's finance committee.

"We had to make choices because of the budget deficit," he added.

This year's draft budget projects spending at $81.86 billion and revenues of $68.56 billion, leaving a $13.3 billion deficit.

In an interview with AFP this month Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that six million Iraqis possessed food ration permits, entitling them to the full quota of subsidised essentials. He said his government would increase the total amount spent on food rations for the needy from $3 billion to $4 billion.

For more than a year, Iraq has been engaged in talks with the United States for F-16 fighters to protect its airspace after the planned departure of US forces at the end of this year which will leave Iraq without air cover.

Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan, the spokesman for US forces in Iraq, told AFP this month that the full package of the F-16 deal was worth $3 billion, and the version on offer was the Block 52 model.

"The long-term value of the offer for the 18 aircraft was $3 billion, including the aircraft, ammunition, spare parts, training and everything else, including avionics and electronics," Buchanan said.

Protests over irregular deliveries of rations and lack of basic services like electricity have sparked protests around Iraq that have multiplied since uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt toppled entrenched dictatorships in those countries.

FDA Approves First 3D Mammogram Device

FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Friday the first X-ray mammography device that provides three-dimensional images of the breast for cancer screening and diagnosis.

The Selenia Dimensions System, an upgrade to Massachusetts-based Hologic Inc.'s FDA-approved two-dimensional system, can provide 2-D and 3-D X-ray images of the breasts. The 3-D images may help physicians more accurately detect and diagnose breast cancer, the FDA said in a news release.

"Physicians can now access this unique and innovative 3-D technology that could significantly enhance existing diagnosis and treatment approaches," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

A mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast and is considered the best tool for early detection of breast cancer. But, with conventional two-dimensional imaging, an estimated 10 percent of women must endure additional testing because an initial screening exam found abnormalities that were later determined to be noncancerous, the agency said.

The combined use of the Selenia's 2-D and 3-D images roughly doubled the amount of radiation a patient received. But, it improved accuracy, decreasing the number of women called back for additional testing, the FDA said. The agency added that there is uncertainty about radiation risk estimates. However, the increase in cancer risk from having both a 2-D and 3-D exam is expected to be less than 1.5 percent compared to the natural cancer incidence, and less than 1 percent compared to the risk from conventional 2-D mammography.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute recommends that women ages 40 and older have a mammogram every one to two years. Nearly 40 million mammograms are performed each year in the United States.

As part of the approval process, the FDA reviewed results from two studies where board-certified radiologists were asked to review two-dimensional and three-dimensional images from more than 300 mammography exams.In both studies, the radiologists viewing both the 2-D and 3-D images realized a 7 percent improvement in their ability to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cases, compared to viewing 2-D images alone, the agency said.

According to the NCI, nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 1 in 8 women will face a diagnosis of breast cancer sometime during their lifetime. However, there is a 98 percent survival rate when breast cancer is detected early and still localized to the breast.

More information

To learn more about mammograms, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Ugandan leader stuns voters with robocalls

KAMPALA (Reuters) – Not many Ugandans expect a private audience with President Yoweri Museveni. Nor a phone call.

So the ruling party's so-called robocalling of voters has floored many ahead of Friday's presidential poll.

Political robocalls are used commonly in the United States ahead of presidential elections but are unheard of in African polls where campaign money is paltry in comparison.

"This is Y.K. Museveni. I greet you," said the distinctively gravelly voice. "Vote for the old man with a hat."

In power for 25 years, Museveni, 67, whose trademark outfit is a sharp suit plus floppy hat, is expected to win a fourth term in office on Friday.

Political analyst Bernard Tabaire said it "was a weird way to start the day" and that the call was over before he had a chance to realize what was happening.

"I was amazed when I picked up the phone," said 22-year-old student Grace Mugeni. "I shouted loudly that I would vote for the opposition before I knew it was recorded."

(Reporting by Barry Malone; Editing by Richard Lough/Maria Golovnina)

D.Boerse, NYSE near deal but dodging thorny issues

SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are expected to announce a deal to create the world's largest exchange operator later on Tuesday, but set aside thorny political issues that pose a challenge to its successful completion.

Highlighting how political concerns are weighing on a wave of consolidation sweeping the industry, Singapore Exchange tweaked its $7.9 billion bid for rival ASX to allow more Australian directors onto a combined board as it seeks to win the support of Australian lawmakers wary of ceding control of the local exchange.

Nationalism is one of the biggest hurdles to the industry mergers as exchanges are often seen as symbols of national pride and important to attracting business and capital. The deals, including a bid by the London Stock Exchange to take over Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group, face intense scrutiny from regulators and politicians around the world.

A number of key details in the Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext merger have been hammered out, sources said. A definitive agreement is expected to be announced on Tuesday, one source said.

But several difficult issues have yet to be addressed, which is likely to add to concerns being raised on both sides of the Atlantic.

Politics is also seen as the driver behind the revised SGX plan that gives an equal number of board seats to Australians and Singaporeans in the combined entity compared to less than half for the ASX under the earlier offer.

The bourses said in a joint statement on Tuesday there would also be three "international" directors although they would initially come from the SGX board. The size of the board has been whittled down from 15 to 13.

"All the resistance to the deal has been political. The steps taken today should address some of those political issues," said Mark Nathan, portfolio manager at Arnhem Investments. "It clearly carves out and maintains some sovereignty within Australia, and there should be a lot less resistance to the deal in its new form."

There is no change to the value of the SGX offer and ASX shareholders will still hold about 36 percent of the company under the new proposal.

WHO NEXT?

Similar political and regulatory hurdles may threaten the Deutsche Boerse-NYSE Euronext tie-up.

"The biggest question mark in general is obviously the European political and regulatory landscape coming out of this," one source said.

The Frankfurt- and New York-based companies were center stage in the merger frenzy that erupted last week and heated up on Monday as Brazil's BM&FBovespa said it was eyeing its own prospects and as traders buzzed that CME Group could jump into the fray.

Fox Business Network reported that CME Group, currently the world's top derivatives exchange group, may make a hostile bid for NYSE Euronext, citing bankers.

A spokesman for Chicago-based CME declined to comment. CME officials have been guiding investors away from expectations that the company would do a merger deal.

BM&FBovespa, the world's fourth-largest financial exchange operator, is closely looking out for tie-up opportunities, Chief Executive Edemir Pinto told Reuters. Pinto said China and India were markets where the bourse could pursue expansion.

The wave of consolidation activity sparked a rally in ASX shares last week, although the stock traded more than 10 percent below the value of the SGX bid, which indicated investors still had doubts about overcoming political obstacles.

Under the revised structure, key staff, infrastructure and bourse functions would be maintained in Australia. As with other deals in the sector, the ASX/SGX combination is designed to achieve greater economies of scale to attract new companies, products and traders while fending off competition from low-cost electronic rivals.

"We believe despite the defensive nature of this deal the merger will position SGX in a stronger position to compete in a fast changing landscape," said Jaj Singh, a banking analyst in Singapore for UBS.

"The take away here is that consolidation is inevitable as exchanges compete to become the trading platform of choice in their respective regions."

The deal still faces major political hurdles in Australia, with approval needed from parliament, where the ruling Labor party is in a minority so an agreement will need to win support on both sides of the aisle.

"It's going to be very hard politically to get this one away...in a parliament with a majority of one," said Tom Elliott, managing director at MM&E Capital.

SGX shares fell 0.6 percent after coming off a trading halt on Tuesday. ASX shares, which were also under a trading halt initially, rose 1.7 percent.

Shares in Deutsche Boerse, which is expected to post a wider fourth-quarter loss later on Tuesday, were down 0.7 percent.

'SENSITIVE AND COMPLICATED'

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE have worked out details such as senior executives but the name and location of operations have proven "sensitive and complicated," a source said, highlighting the difficulty in bringing together companies that are both operationally quite different and symbols of national pride.

The companies had previously announced that NYSE Euronext head Duncan Niederauer would head the combined company, Deutsche Boerse Chief Executive Reto Francioni would be chairman, and that the German company's shareholders would get about a 60 percent stake.

At a 60-40 ownership split, the majority of shareholders in a combined company would be from the United States, with 55 percent from the United States, 11 percent from Germany, 11 percent from the UK and 23 percent from the rest of the world, a source said.

The board of the combined company would reflect the ownership structure, with 10 of the 17 members coming from the German side, a source said, adding that the numbers include both Niederauer and Francioni.

(Additional reporting by Philipp Halstrick, Paritosh Bansal, Adrian Bathgate, Saeed Azhar and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Balazs Koranyi and Muralikumar Anantharaman)