The FDA and the CDC have identified a source of the salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 since April, according to The Washington Post: Investigators discovered the Salmonella saintpaul strain in irrigation water and serrano peppers on a farm in Mexico, where jalapeno peppers are also grown… The Food and Drug Administration, which earlier issued a warning about jalapeno peppers, is now warning consumers also to avoid raw serrano peppers grown and packed in Mexico.

Late last week, FDA's lead scientist asked the agency's science board to convene a subcommittee to study the effects of bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in hard plastics and food containers. The science board is an advisory committee of non-governmental scientists who provide expert advice to FDA decision makers.

Yesterday, after a period of long delay, the Department of the Interior announced it would list the polar bear as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act. Designating a species as threatened is not as serious as calling it endangered, but it still affords the species federal protections and special considerations. The debate over whether to list the polar bear has been a hot button issue, because the main threat to the species is global climate change which is affecting the ice cover and sea conditions the bear needs to subsist.