Consumer groups formally petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to switch gears and evaluate genetically engineered (GE) salmon as a food additive, not a veterinary drug, as the agency has been for several years.Though the political fight over GE salmon has primarily focused on the potential environmental impact of the technology--a fight fueled by environmental groups and lawmakers...
On Monday, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Food Safety News, the Michigan Department of Community Health released documents again naming Taco Bell as the mystery Mexican-style fast food chain linked to an outbreak of Salmonella infection from October and November 2011. Michigan has become the second state to release documents implicating Taco Bell as the restaurant likely involved...
The Environmental Protection Agency missed a deadline this week to release part of an analysis on the public health impact of dioxins, a lapse that angered public health and environmental advocates.After many years of delays, the agency said in August it would complete the first part of the dioxin reassessment, which would have set a toxicological threshold for the first...
As Food Safety News continues to investigate the identity of 'Restaurant Chain A,' the "Mexican-style fast food chain" linked to a 10-state outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis infection in October and November 2011, the issue has received mounting attention from a variety of media outlets and blogs, including the Huffington Post and Marion Nestle at Food Politics. JoNel Aleccia of msnbc.com spoke...
Leading food industry groups are urging the Obama administration to adequately fund federal food safety oversight, instead of seeking new taxes or regulatory fees."We respectfully ask that you make securing adequate congressional funding for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety activities one of your highest priorities rather than proposing any new food taxes or regulatory fees on consumers...
Dietary levels of acrylamide, the chemical compound and known carcinogen naturally produced from cooking food, cannot be shown to pose any health risk to humans, according to an expert panel organized by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) for a press web presentation on Thursday.Since its discovery in cooked food in 2002, acrylamide has prompted questions from governments, health organizations...
Like a persistent mosquito that keeps coming back no matter how many times you bat it away, the controversial issue of mandated labeling for genetically engineered foods in the United States just won't go away.The latest example of that persistence is legislation proposed in Washington state that would require genetically engineered foods, or food items that contain genetically engineered foods,...
A controversial animal drug, fed to a majority of pigs raised in the United States, has become the focus of a long-running trade dispute centered on meat exports. Ractopamine hydrochloride - used to keep swine lean and boost their growth in the last weeks before slaughter - is administered to an estimated 60 to 80 percent of pigs raised in...
In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama said that while he's in favor of reforming outdated and unnecessary regulations, he won't be backing down on food or water safety. "I'm confident a farmer can contain a milk spill without a federal agency looking over his shoulder," said the President in an hour-long speech before Congress. "But I...
The Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers -- who, by all accounts, are strange bedfellows -- announced Monday strong support for H.R. 3798, the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, which was introduced this week by Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), and Jeff Denham (R-CA). United Egg Producers, which...
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