A co-founder of the Pinkberry frozen yogurt franchise has been arrested and is accused of beating a homeless man with a tire iron near downtown Los Angeles, authorities said Tuesday.

Young Lee, 47, is charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, with a special allegation that the assault caused great bodily injury, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said. The homeless man suffered a broken arm and several cuts to his head.

If found guilty, Lee, who was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and carrying a loaded firearm in 2001 faces up to seven years in prison. He was released on $60,000 bail, the district attorney's office said.

Read - Pinkberry co-founder arrested on assault allegation

A meal containing the world's most deadly mushroom is responsible for killing two people and sickening another in Canberra, Australian health officials said Friday.

The meal, which contained death cap mushrooms, was part of a private meal served at a restaurant on New Year's Day, the Australian Health Directorate said.

"The Health Directorate has been advised that the consumption of this food was for a private meal and no food containing the mushrooms was provided to the general public or anyone outside of this small group," the directorate said in a statement.

The restaurant, where the mushrooms were prepared, remains closed.

Read - Deadly mushrooms served as part of meal that kills 2, officials say

Police have arrested 10 suspects in the sale of toxic, illegally brewed liquor that has left at least 168 people dead in the Indian state of West Bengal, an official said Friday.

Hundreds were sickened from the contaminated moonshine and 100 people remain hospitalized, said Narayan Swamy Nigam, chief of a district south of the city of Kolkata in eastern India.

Methanol was detected in the bodies of the victims, mainly poor villagers who flooded hospitals after drinking the hooch.

Read 168 dead after drinking toxic moonshine in eastern India

An outbreak of illness linked to consumption of tainted cantaloupes has been linked to 13 deaths and 72 illnesses in 18 states, a federal disease agency reported Wednesday.

The outbreak - blamed on the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes - was first reported September 12, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 15 people in four states had been infected. The illnesses were traced to consumption of Rocky Ford cantaloupes grown at Jensen Farms' fields in Granada, Colorado.

The deaths reported as of Tuesday morning occurred in Colorado (two), Kansas (one), Maryland (one), Missouri (one), Nebraska (one), New Mexico (four), Oklahoma (one), and Texas (two).

Read the full story: "Cantaloupe-related outbreak of illness linked to 13 deaths"

The hefty last meal ordered but not eaten by an executed Texas inmate brought a complaint from a state senator and the end Thursday to the practice of special menus.

Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, wrote Thursday that he opposed the practice of providing a last meal of choice to the condemned.

"It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. One which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim," Whitmire wrote.

The Democrat, who represents Houston and parts of north Harris County, said "enough is enough" after Lawrence Russell Brewer ordered two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy with sliced onions, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelet with other ingredients, a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup, three fajitas, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream and a pound of barbecue with a half-loaf of white bread.

Read Texas drops special last meal for death row inmates

Previously - Last orders: death row menu

An 80-year-old woman who died after being found unconscious in a restroom at an eastern Georgia McDonald's was killed by a lethal dose of carbon dioxide, authorities said Wednesday.

An investigation determined that a "bleed line" on the tank used to carbonate beverages in the McDonald's drink dispenser was "improperly disconnected within the wall cavity," Pooler, Georgia, Police Chief Mark Revenew said.

This caused carbon dioxide to build up in the restroom, which was in close proximity to the tank, "in a potentially lethal concentration," he said.

Read the full story - "Police: Carbon dioxide led to death in McDonald's bathroom"

One woman died and at least eight other people were hospitalized after being exposed to an odor at a McDonald's restaurant in eastern Georgia, a police chief said Thursday.

Police and fire personnel were called to one of the chain's restaurants in Pooler, just west of Savannah, about 11:50 a.m. Wednesday, Pooler Police Chief Mark Revenew said.

Upon arrival, first responders found two people unconscious in the women's restroom and also "became stricken (by) an odor," according to Revenew.

Read - Georgia police: Woman dies after exposure to odor at McDonald's

Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation announced Wednesday an immediate voluntary recall of approximately 36 million pounds of ground turkey meat because it may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria.

Cargill's plant in Springdale, Arkansas, processed the fresh and frozen ground turkey products between February 20 and August 2, the company said in a news release.

Federal health authorities said Tuesday that an outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg that has killed one person and sickened 76 others in 26 states appears to have been traced to ground turkey products.

Read Cargill recalls 36 million pounds of ground turkey
FULL POST

Guests at restaurants in Argentina's Buenos Aires province must say good-bye to the salt shaker.

In an effort to combat hypertension, which affects some 3.7 million residents in the province – nearly a quarter of the population, the health department reached an agreement with the hotel and restaurant federation to remove salt shakers from the tables at their eateries.

"On average, each Argentinian consumes 13 grams of salt daily, while according to the World Health Organization, you should consume less than five," Health Minister Alejandro Collia said when he announced the change last month.

The measure is not as extreme as it sounds. Salt will be available by request, but only after the patrons have tasted their food.

Read - "Salt shakers disappear from Buenos Aires tables"

The origin of a bacterial outbreak that has killed at least 27 people in Europe has been traced to bean sprouts in Germany, a leading health official in the nation said Friday.

But even as investigators identified the source of an E. coli outbreak, officials warned the threat was not over as authorities cannot definitively say how or where the sprouts were infected.

Investigators determined bean sprouts were the cause of the outbreak after 17 people became ill after eating at the same restaurant, Reinhard Burger, President of the Robert Koch Institute, told reporters.

Authorities questioned people about what they ate and asked the cooks where the ingredients came from, Burger said.
The common denominator, he said, was only those who ate food containing the sprouts became ill.

Read - Official: E. coli outbreak traced to bean sprouts