Food poisoning is fairly common and it occurs when foods are not processed, prepared or stored properly. We've had a lot of different foods recalled in the past couple of years - like spinach, peanut butter, eggs, ground beef and ground turkey. When a food is recalled, the grocery stores remove it from their shelves and if you have any recalled foods in your kitchen, you should throw them away or return them. You don't want to eat the recalled products, because that can lead to food poisoning. Learn more about food poisoning signs.

Of course, you need to follow good food safety practices at home, too. You don't want to let your perishables spoil, cook foods improperly, or keep leftovers after they're no longer safe to eat.

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• All About Food Safety
• When Food Goes Bad
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Obesity rates in the United States continue to climb. According to America's Health Rankings, in another ten years we'll be spending about $343 billion dollars on obesity and obesity-related illness. If something doesn't change, about 40% of the adult population will be obese (a BMI of 30 or more). That's not good news at all.

We know what we're doing wrong. In general, we're eating too much food that isn't healthy and not exercising enough. The tough part is figuring what what will motivate a large segment of the population to eat less, eat better and move more. Maybe it would help to know what motivated people who have successfully changed their diets. If you've lost weight or changed your diet for any reason, let us know what motivated you. What was your "a ha!" moment or your tipping point that got you started?

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I've found a good book for those of you who don't want to cut all carbohydrates out of your diet, but would rather learn how to choose the healthiest carbs instead. The concept is called the glycemic index and the book is The Glycemic Index Diet For Dummies by Meri Raffetto, RD.

The glycemic index is a rating system that tells you how the carbohydrates in food affect your body - foods are rated from 0 to 100. Foods that land high on that list raise your blood sugar levels (and insulin levels) quickly, while foods low on the index don't have as much of an impact on your blood sugar levels. Eating foods with a high glycemic index rating leads you toward becoming overweight or obese, and eating foods low on the list make losing weight much easier.

That sounds good, but how easy is it to determine the glycemic index of foods and what happens when you eat foods with different glycemic indexes mixed together in the same meal? This is where The Glycemic Index Diet For Dummies comes in - Meri explains how how the Glycemic Index Diet works, and then goes through all the steps you need to know to incorporate healthy carbs into your diet without going on a blood sugar rollercoaster. It's an easy, enjoyable read and you'll learn how to follow the diet at home and in restaurants, plus there are lots of recipes and tips on exercise, which is also important for successful weight loss. She also has an accompanying cookbook so you can create delicious low-glycemic meals at home.

(Full disclosure, I am a co-author of one of the For Dummies series of books.)

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The US Food and Drug Administration is holding hearings today and tomorrow to review the idea of placing warning labels on foods and beverages that contain artificial colorings. A panel of experts will review the current research evidence and come up with a recommendation.

Artificial colorings are considered to be safe; however, there are several studies that connect the use of artificial coloring with behavioral problems in kids. It's difficult to know for sure if artificial coloring really do cause the behavioral changes seen in those studies without doing more research, but that type of research would be expensive and difficult to perform.

More About Artificial Food Colorings

• What Are Artificial Food Colorings?
• Food Dyes and the FDA
• Are Natural Food Colorings Better for People with Allergies?

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