Men who have more than four drinks per day and women who have more than two drinks per day not only lose the protection that alcohol affords, but they increase their risk of death, the data indicate.

The reason why men are protected at up to four drinks per day, while women lose the protection after two glasses has to do with how men and women metabolize alcohol, researchers say. It's been shown that when men and women who drink the same amount of alcohol, women experience higher blood alcohol levels than men.

Therefore, women who consume more than two glasses of alcohol per day may be at increased risk for diseases of the liver and certain types of cancer.

"Our findings, while confirming the hazards of excess drinking, indicate potential windows of alcohol intake that may confer a net beneficial effect of moderate drinking, at least in terms of survival," the Italian team concludes.

"Heavy drinkers should be urged to cut their consumption, but people who already regularly consume low to moderate amounts of alcohol should be encouraged to continue," they add.

The manner in which alcohol is consumed also appears to be important, the researchers report. "Little amounts, preferably during meals, this appears to be the right way (to drink alcohol)," said Dr. Giovanni de Gaetano of Catholic University, another author on the study. "This is another feature of the Mediterranean diet, where alcohol, wine above all, is the ideal partner of a dinner or lunch, but that's all: the rest of the day must be absolutely alcohol-free."

"The message carried by scientific studies like ours is simple," Dr. de Gaetano continued. "Alcohol can be a respectful guest on our table, but it is good just when it goes with a healthy lifestyle, where moderation leads us toward a consumption inspired by quality not by quantity."

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, December 11/25, 2006

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Taco Bell outbreak not over, officials say

Last Updated: 2006-12-12 11:11:02 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON - U.S. health officials said on Monday they were not ready to declare an end to an E. coli outbreak, linked to the Taco Bell fast food chain, that sickened at least 64 people, saying they could not confirm that green onions were the source of the bacteria.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials also found the bacteria among a batch of white onions at one of the chain's New York restaurants.

Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands, Inc., in a statement later on Monday, said the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had indicated that the strain of bacteria found in an open bin of white onions was different and that no illnesses had been linked to it.

The company reaffirmed that its food was safe and said it had changed its produce supplier in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware on December 9 as a precautionary measure.

It said independent tests of more than 300 samples of all the ingredients served in Taco Bell restaurants concluded that no ingredient contained the E. coli bacteria.

"We have no information regarding any Taco Bell ingredient linked to this outbreak," Taco Bell President Greg Creed said.

The company said earlier preliminary test results of green onions were "presumptive positive" for E. coli, but those tests had now been confirmed negative.

The FDA said its tests did not find green onions were the cause.

"We don't have a particular food item implicated," the FDA's chief medical officer for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Dr. David Acheson told reporters.

"We obtained those samples and were unable to confirm that," Acheson said, adding, "There's nothing to implicate green onions right now."

Officials from the CDC also said that 64 people with illnesses in 5 U.S. states have been linked to Taco Bell, including 28 cases in New Jersey, 22 in New York, 11 in Pennsylvania, and two in Delaware. A South Carolina woman who ate at a Delaware Taco Bell also fell ill.

The CDC said there have been no new confirmed reports, but monitoring will continue for a couple of days.

E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a usually harmless bacteria found in the guts of animals, including humans. But an estimated 73,000 cases of infection and 60 deaths in the United States are caused each year from E. coli O157:H7, identified in 1982.

FDA's Acheson said his agency and the CDC were continuing their investigation to try to determine the source of the outbreak. He added that Taco Bell was cooperating.

Taco Bell said it would continue to work with authorities to get to the root cause. It added that most of the restaurants it had voluntarily closed had been reopened and was working to reopen the remaining few.

Shares of Yum closed down 22 cents, or less than 1 percent, at $59.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal in New York and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles)

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.