Health Highlights: Dec. 6, 2006

Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Consumers Warned About Jamba Juice Smoothies

Consumers in the U.S. Southwest are being warned that Jamba Juice Co. smoothies containing strawberries may be contaminated with the potentially deadly Listeria monocytogenes bacterium.

The warning applies to smoothies sold at Jamba Juice stores in Arizona, southern Nevada and southern California from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, the Associated Press reported.

There have been no reports of illness, said the San Francisco-based company, which issued the warning Tuesday after it learned that some frozen strawberries from one of its suppliers tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

Jamba Juice immediately stopped shipments from that supplier -- Cleugh's Frozen Foods of Salinas, Calif. -- and removed all strawberries supplied by that company, the AP reported.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause potentially deadly infections in children, the elderly and other people with weakened immune systems. The bacterium can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.

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U.S. Companies to Give Workers Electronic Medical Records

Workers at five of the largest employers in the United States will soon have electronic medical records that they can access from any computer.

The medical records of about 2.5 million workers and their dependents will be compiled by an independent, nonprofit organization and stored in a database that will only be accessible to the employees, the Associated Press reported.

The five companies -- Applied Materials; BP America Inc.; Intel Corp.; Pitney Bowes; and Wal-Mart -- hope the move will reduce health-care paperwork and reduce administrative costs, medical errors and duplication of care. The savings may make it easier for the companies to continue sponsoring health insurance for their employees.

The companies did not say how much the program will cost, the AP reported.

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Scientists Find Potential 'Achilles' Heel' in Bird-Flu Virus