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With 72 new cases, the US Salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupe has now topped 300 cases, and another person has died, bringing the death total to 4. So far, half of patients interviewed were hospitalized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update late last week. "CDC is concerned about this outbreak because the illnesses are severe and people in long-term care facilities and childcare centers have gotten sick. Do not eat pre-cut cantaloupes if you don’t know whether Malichita or Rudy brand cantaloupes were used," the CDC warned. (Soucheray, 12/18)

U.S. food inspectors found “extremely high” levels of lead in cinnamon at a plant in Ecuador that made applesauce pouches tainted with the metal, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. The recalled pouches have been linked to dozens of illnesses in U.S. kids. Cinnamon tested from the plant had lead levels more than 2,000 times higher than a maximum level proposed by the FDA, officials said. (Aleccia, 12/18)

The Food and Safety Inspection Service with the USDA issued a food recall for about 26,550 pounds of chicken bites manufactured on Oct. 3 after receiving complaints from consumers that discovered plastic under the breading of the bites. The restaurant chain’s supplier, Simmons Prepared Foods Incorporated voluntarily recalled the product as it is believed the bites were “contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of clear, hard plastic.” (Encinas, 12/18)

The Department of Veterans Affairs has plans for major funding increases to counter a sharp and unexpected 7.4% rise in veteran homelessness, plans that are dependent on how much money a divided Congress will approve for next year's VA budget. In a release last Friday, the VA announced its intention to devote "hundreds of millions" to assist veterans sleeping in shelters or living on the streets and other places "not fit for human habitation." (Sisk, 12/18)

The makers of Elf Bar and other Chinese e-cigarettes have imported products worth hundreds of millions of dollars while repeatedly dodging customs and avoiding taxes and import fees, according to public records and court documents reviewed by The Associated Press. (Perrone, 12/19)

By now, you’re probably well aware that teenagers in the U.S. are facing a full-fledged mental health crisis. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association have declared a “national state of emergency” for children’s mental health. Two Minnesota teens had an idea to get ahead of mental health crises by helping other young people become more aware of their feelings. (Wurzer and Finn, 12/18)

You already know we’re getting heavier. Rising obesity rates are as American as apple pie — a cliché that seems freshly relevant in this context. But did you know we’re also getting shorter? We didn’t! At least, not until we tried to use the National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out which professions boast the tallest workers. (Van Dam, 12/15)