Opinion
Ever hear the one about how the well‐dressed accomplice caused a scene at the front door of the bank, while the masked robbers snuck in through the back and made off with the loot? Let that be a lesson to us: when we all train our eyes in one direction, we may miss the real… Continue Reading
Without necessarily knowing the term “traceability,” consumers have been calling for it in their food system for a long time. The evidence of that comes from the food industry itself, with its increased emphasis on where food came from. Many companies now highlight certain locations or farmers in brand names, commercials, or through packaging and… Continue Reading
Opinion
Last week I told my colleagues that I did not want to hear anything more about the damn “Farm Bill.” It’s taken up more time than the Korean War did, and I was sick of hearing about it. Then they caught my attention by telling me about the catfish amendment. Yes, after assigning catfish inspection… Continue Reading
The House Agriculture Committee voted to repeal a controversial catfish inspection program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture late Wednesday night – a sign the program, which was mandated by the 2008 farm bill to help protect U.S. catfish farmers from cheap imports, may be headed for the chopping block. In the last attempt at… Continue Reading
Too many repeat violations are occurring at federally inspected pig slaughter plants, and the problem lies with inadequate enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General. The IG‘s conclusion is found in a recently released audit report on USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) inspection and enforcement activities at the nation’s swine slaughter… Continue Reading
Europe and America appear to be taking decidedly different approaches to honeybee colony collapse. The European Union just adopted continent-wide restrictions against the neonicotinoid class of insecticides called out by the European Food Safety Authority as especially damaging to bees. In the U.S., however, a newly released comprehensive scientific report on honey bee health says… Continue Reading
The public should not hesitate to be more involved in the food safety policymaking process, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen and Michael Taylor, the nation’s two leading food safety officials, told an audience at the Food Safety Summit in Baltimore late last week. Dr. Hagen is Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture… Continue Reading
With wet distillers grain becoming ever more available as a feed source due to the government subsidized ethanol industry, it’s not good news that they might be increasing levels of dangerous E. coli O157:H7 in cattle hides and manure. A primary co-product of the ethanol production process, distillers grains are the product remaining after the ethanol… Continue Reading
Opinion
On April 24, 2013, Mother Jones ran a story entitled “USDA Ruffles Feathers With New Poultry Inspection Policy,” by Tom Philpott. Like so many posts that I read about on the new proposed poultry inspection system, it is loaded with innuendos, inflammatory comments and is often just plain wrong. But to lay the ground work… Continue Reading
Opinion
With the passage of the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010, in addition to improving school meals, Congress required the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update nearly nonexistent nutrition standards on so-called competitive foods. These are foods sold outside the school meal program, including fast food items sold alongside the reimbursable lunches, and soft drinks… Continue Reading
By March of last year, lean finely textured beef (LFTB) had reached celebrity status under the unfavorable moniker “pink slime.” The product—which is made by centrifuging slightly heated fatty beef trimmings to separate out lean meat bits and then treating that meat with ammonia gas to reduce foodborne pathogens —was the subject of thousands of… Continue Reading