“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines,” said early-American philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson.
But in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consistency gets greater appreciation. In its recent evaluation of USDA’s
Continue Reading OIG says USDA reviews of exporting countries are inadequate
The Wisconsin-based Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. is recalling 16,320 pounds of chili and soup after an employee found plastic materials in a bag of soup, according to a notice posted today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The ready-to-eat chili and soup items were produced and
Continue Reading Roundy’s recalls 8 tons of chili, soup products for plastic bits
Increasing demand in the U.S. for year-round access to all foods means more foreign food in grocery stores and that means more foodborne illness outbreaks from imported food.
Writing for the March edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four researchers take
Continue Reading Imported food sickens more Americans than ever
One of my many pleasant memories of Chile is the sunny Sept. 1 lunch served for 350 people in a huge white tent during the “Conference International Berries 2016” held in Talca. Most of the conversation was in Spanish, putting me at a disadvantage. Every few minutes, I was getting
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: Lessons about trade and food safety
SANTIAGO, CHILE — Chile’s raspberry producers came in for some special attention during a conference for this country’s food exporters. All who were in attendance were provided with a glossy 20-page brochure just produced for raspberry farm workers. It’s one piece in a strategy to rebuild Chile’s place among raspberry
Continue Reading Chile rebuilding raspberry business with food safety strategy
TALCA, CHILE — The divided highway south of Santiago quickly gives up what much of this country is about as the fields change from grapes to nuts. Chile’s renewable food industry is an exporting phenomenon for this country of almost 18 million. It has grown up quickly and now equals
Continue Reading Chile’s food exporters are getting schooled today on FSMA
How many times has this happened to you? You pack up food to take up to the ski condo so on Sunday morning you can pull out the pancake and waffle mixes to make breakfast without having to go out. After all, the overnight snow has left a foot on
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: Off to Chile
USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service has erected new barriers to the entry of Chilean blueberries to the United States. Neither fears about last year’s Cyclosporiasis parasite in fresh produce nor Hepatitis A in berry blends had anything to do with the APHIS action. Instead, it’s the European grapevine
Continue Reading Chilean Blueberries Get Extra Scrutiny at U.S. Ports of Entry
The Chilean chicken recall for dioxin contamination expanded Thursday, with the amount being held at the U.S. border growing from 126,000 to 155,595 pounds. Still, some of the product reached U.S retail shelves. 
According to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the total amount of chicken involved in the recall
Continue Reading FSIS: Some Recalled Chilean Chicken Got Through to U.S. Retailers
Nearly 200,000 pounds of Chilean chicken is being recalled in the United States for dioxins only because the levels found violate Chile’s domestic limits, according to federal food safety officials. In other words, the 126,000 pounds of chicken currently being held at the border is there only because Chile recalled
Continue Reading USDA: Level of Dioxin in Chile's Chicken Recall Would Not Have Sparked Recall in U.S.
