Day: July 25, 2019

Lower Sodium Hoagie Rolls

Drexel

“Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one of the most dangerous threats Philadelphians face. Most people don’t know that breads, like hoagie rolls, are major contributors to the amount of salt that we eat,” said Thomas Farley, MD, commissioner of the Department of Public Health. “I applaud this effort to develop new, tasty, lower-sodium choices that will make eating a healthy diet easier.”

https://drexel.edu/now/archive/2019/July/Drexel-Food-Lab-Lower-Sodium-Roll/

By Annie Korp

Inquirer

Three years ago, the health department received a five-year, nearly $2 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to partake in the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program. One project was to work with Asian buffet restaurants that served lower-income youths, seniors, and adults to serve healthier meals.

The department also looked to purchase foods for city agencies that were lower in sodium, but had trouble finding certain items in the marketplace, said Catherine Bartoli, a nutrition and food service coordinator with the department.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/hoagie-amoroso-reduced-sodium-roll-low-salt-philadelphia-school-cdc-grant-20190726.html

By Mari Schaefer

Change in Overdose Deaths from 2017 to 2018

“What I was really struck by was how big the drop was in Kensington — that’s the site of the Resilience Project, the site of the most drug activity. It’s the hot spot in the city,” said Tom Farley, the city’s health commissioner. “It’s an encouraging sign that we are really making progress in the area. But the rest of the city is following different trajectories.”

https://www.inquirer.com/health/philadelphia-map-zip-code-overdose-deaths-2018-20190725.html

By Aubrey Whelan

HF Monitor at PES Refinery

Inquirer

The city’s health department downplayed the incident Wednesday, saying its Air Management Services (AMS) inspectors suspected the gas meter was not properly calibrated, and requested that the refinery and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency double-check the tests.

“Both confirmed that there was no HF present in the air,” James Garrow, the health department spokesperson, said in an email. “The AMS inspectors took the improperly calibrated meter out of service.”

https://www.inquirer.com/business/energy/philadelphia-refinery-fire-pes-air-monitoring-senate-hearing-20190724.html

By Andrew Maykuth

WHYY

Garrow conceded, however, that one of the city’s meters, which was being used to confirm PES’s own zero readings, had not been functioning properly.

“[Air Monitoring Service] inspectors tested for the presence of HF to confirm the zero readings reported by PES,” Garrow said. “Due to the meter not being properly calibrated, the inspectors requested that the EPA and PES confirm the zero readings. Both confirmed that there was no HF present in the air. The AMS inspectors took the improperly calibrated meter out of service.”

https://whyy.org/articles/pes-refinery-fire-highlights-need-for-better-air-monitoring-experts-tell-pa-lawmakers/

By Dana Bate