Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) introduced a bill last week that would eliminate new limits on the number of calories in the school lunches served to 32 million American school children each day. The bill, dubbed the No Hungry Kids Act, is in direct response to new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines…
AC21 Report Won’t Drop Until After Election
Possibly more important in the long run than California’s vote on whether genetically modified foods should be labeled–which might not pass muster with federal courts anyway–will be the recommendations of USDA’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture.
Created in 2003, the so-called AC21 Committee, whose current members are appointed by Secretary of Agriculture…
Ryan Drove Wienermobile, Voted No on Food Safety Modernization Act
GOP vice presidential candidate-designate Paul Ryan is a member of a very exclusive club. Oh, the Wisconsin Republican is going to be one of the few ever nominated to a major party ticket for national office. 
But before that happened, the Congressman was one of the few chosen to drive the popular Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.…
Food Safety Penalties, Raw Milk Among Senate Farm Bill Amendments
Senators have filed more than 80 amendments to the Farm Bill, which the upper chamber is expected to debate this week. The thousand plus page bill — which aims to save taxpayers $23 billion over 10 years — would replace direct payment subsidies to farmers with subsidized crop insurance and a program that pays only…
FDA to Publish New Produce Rule with 120 Days for Comments
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is about to publish a new produce safety rule and will extend the comment period on it to 120 days, according to Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for food.
The Hagstrom Report, a subscriber news service, said Taylor made the announcement while speaking to the national Organic Trade …
Letter From The Editor: Requiem
We can go back to talking amongst ourselves about the theory of a single food safety agency in the United States. But in reality, the idea is now dead.
Let’s review.
On Jan. 13, President Obama announced he was asking Congress “to reinstate the authority that past presidents had, over decades, to reorganize the government.”…
Administration ‘Not Confirming’ Food Safety Consolidation
The Obama Administration “is not ‘confirming’ food safety consolidation,” the subscription news service The Hagstrom Report now says. The newsletter reports:
“Although Jeff Zients, who is now White House Office of Management and Budget director, said recently that consolidation of food safety agencies would be one of those “addressed in subsequent, specific proposals,” an OMB …
Letter From The Editor: The First
Ten days ago, we kicked over a hornet’s nest by passing on a solid report suggesting the Obama Administration planned to use its newly sought “consolidation authority” to put all federal food safety functions under one roof.
Most hearing about Obama wanting “consolidation authority” heard about how it would be used to merge the government’s …
A Budget Neutral, Better Way to Boost Food Safety
Food Safety News, citing the Hagstrom Report newsletter, said on Jan. 14 that the Obama Administration may be considering a plan to merge the functions of food safety as currently performed at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration …
Single Food Agency a Recipe for Singular Disaster?
Food Safety News Editor Dan Flynn reported on Jan. 14, 2012 that if Congress gives the Obama Administration the authority to consolidate six agencies that deal with international trade into one agency, bringing together the two major food safety agencies into one would follow.
This possible move is not totally unexpected from this Administration, nor …
OMB Says Food Agency Merger Is Next
A single federal food safety agency, long sought by many advocates, will happen if Congress grants the Obama Administration authority to reorganize the government, according to the subscription news service The Hagstrom Report.
In its Friday edition, The Hagstrom Report said Office of Management and Budget Director for Management, Jeff Zients, said that if Congress…