Hog farmers wary of reporting new flu. It will be difficult to boost surveillance of hogs for the new pandemic strain of H1N1 flu unless farmers are confident they won't be penalized if the disease is found in their barns, an official with the World Organisation for Animal Health said on Tuesday. [News Source]

Barcodes could reveal your food’s credentials. A few years ago, most consumers were satisfied with a sticker showing the country of origin. But concerns about fair trade and the environment, as well as food safety, are now driving a wave of projects aimed at tracking food from farm to shopping basket. [News Source]

Human hormones, chemicals a bad mix. Research about everyday chemicals that may harm human health is piling up. Some people say government regulators have handled the situation irresponsibly. Others say more study is needed. [News Source]

Swine flu is officially a pandemic. But don’t worry… not yet, anyway. Out of 30,000 cases, only 145 deaths have been reported and development of a vaccine is under way. But scientists will not relax: the virus could mutate and grow stronger over the summer - and what happens if it mixes with bird flu? [News Source]

Human hormones, chemicals a bad mix. Research about everyday chemicals that may harm human health is piling up. Some people say government regulators have handled the situation irresponsibly. Others say more study is needed. [News Source]

Swine flu is officially a pandemic. But don’t worry… not yet, anyway. Out of 30,000 cases, only 145 deaths have been reported and development of a vaccine is under way. But scientists will not relax: the virus could mutate and grow stronger over the summer - and what happens if it mixes with bird flu? [News Source]

Perspective rather than panic is called for on swine flu. The WHO this week declared swine flu a global pandemic, the first flu pandemic in 40 years. Officials and politicians insist that while the public should remain vigilant, there is no undue cause for concern. [News Source]

We’ve got all the space in the world. Cameron Diaz is parading the latest Malthusian fashion, that the world has too many people. Ignore her, it's wrong, wrong, wrong. [News Source]

Origins of the swine flu virus. Closely related forms of the H1N1 strain of influenza virus circulated undetected in swine for years. [News Source]

Pandemic now official, but no more deadly. WHO director-general Margaret Chan took care, more so than in past statements, to stress that the official declaration of a pandemic does not mean the virus is more lethal. [News Source]

WHO declares first 21st century flu pandemic. The United Nations agency raised its pandemic flu alert to phase 6 on a six-point scale, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968 is under way. [News Source]

World Health Organization calls swine flu outbreak a pandemic. The World Health Organization yesterday declared the seven-week-old outbreak of the novel H1N1 influenza virus a pandemic, marking it as a historic global health event, one whose consequences may not be known for years. [News Source]