The state's top health official is going to Washington to convince federal officials that a candy bar does not deserve the same legal status as cauliflower.

So we’re standing at the counter of our local fast-food restaurant and my kids order burgers, fries and Cokes. Supersized.

The first red flag was the man’s name: Ricky Martin.

Five-hundred years ago, the Guarani Indians of Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia started using the plant Ka’a He’ê — translated to English as “sweet herb” — for consumption and medical treatments.

The innovative edge that brought the U.S. medical technology industry to global dominance may be slipping, according to a study that consulting firm PwC is releasing.

DETROIT - One measure of how tough times are in the Motor City: Some of the offenders in jail don’t want to be released; some who do get out promptly re-offend to head back where there’s heat, health care and three meals a day.

Simon Chalpin, 75, never took a vitamin in his life before he started his first Hi-Health food supplement chain of stores in the Valley 35 years ago. Today, Chalpin takes 20 vitamins a day. He works out in a gym regularly.

Jason Leon: Roughly 84,000 lives could be saved every year if the gaps in mortality between African Americans and whites were erased. We know that differences in culture, language and non-verbal cues between patient and provider are also critically important.

A coalition of labor unions, liberal activists and health care groups will launch a big-bucks nationwide campaign for universal health care today with rallies at the state Capitol and more than 50 other cities.

You'll never look at dinner the same way again, say the makers of "Food, Inc.," a 2009 documentary that was nominated for an Academy Award this year.

CHICAGO - Make it a burger, fries and nutritional information to go. Seeking to counter charges that its food is unhealthy and contributes to obesity, McDonald's Corp. announced Tuesday that it will display nutrition facts on the packaging for most of its menu items next year.

More people are criticizing companies’ efforts to market soda and junk food in schools, but the food industry isn’t backing off, a study by Arizona State University researchers has found.

Unable to force nutrition labeling by restaurants, a Yuma Democrat has instead agreed to a purely voluntary program - and only for the items the food servers want.

Use of food stamps (in their 21st century form of EBT cards) has soared by 15 percent in Maricopa County over the past year.

Junk food will soon disappear at public high schools if state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne gets his way.

For public-school kids, soda pop, Ritz Bits, Ding Dongs and even Nature Valley Granola Bars are on the way out — along with dozens of other snacks ruled “unallowable” this week by the Arizona Department of Education. On the way in are 100 percent fruit juices, low-fat yogurt and baked — not fried — chips.

WASHINGTON — Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo?

Glenn Hamer: Reducing the number of uninsured Arizonans is a serious policy issue for business.

WASHINGTON — Suitably opaque, Section 2006 takes up only a few dozen lines in a sweeping health care bill that runs to 2,074 pages and mentions neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor her state of Louisiana.

Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's largest grocery chain, is adopting new global safety standards for its private label and other foods at a time when analysts say consumers are more concerned than ever about food safety.

James Weir learned about the secret of a successful life while growing up on a farm in Moline, Ill. The Scottsdale entrepreneur, who is commonly known by friends, associates and family as “J.D.,” is employing those childhood lessons today to create a successful business in the pharmaceutical industry.

True Food, the new Fox Restaurant Concepts brand co-developed by Scottsdale-based eatery industry giant Sam Fox and health and wellness guru Dr. Andrew Weil, has settled on an opening date of Oct. 27 at Biltmore Fashion Park, 24th Street and Camelback Road in east Phoenix.

Laura English, owner of the new Pet Planet in Ahwatukee Foothills, knows first hand that not all the products grocery stores sell are actually healthy for pets.

BEIJING - While China grapples with its latest tainted food crisis, the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. They get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow.