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Most recent stories

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Farmers market lovers want to see exemptions in food safety bill
Roy Neal calls the state and federal laws designed to protect him from Ranee Priem's home-canned zucchini relish and apple jelly -- including the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 now working its way through Congress -- attempts at "solving a nonproblem." Neal was browsing through the Cascade F... Continued...

Friday, August 7, 2009

Safeway recalls ground beef sold in nine states
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Safeway Inc. announced Thursday a major, nine-state recall of salmonella-tainted ground beef sold between June 6 and July 14. Safeway /quotes/comstock/13*!swy/quotes/nls/swy (SWY 18.56, -0.06, -0.32%) , the giant grocery store chain based in Pleasanton, Calif., said... Continued...

Monday, August 3, 2009

Chemicals can turn genes on and off; new tests needed, scientists say.
Each of us starts life with a particular set of genes, 20,000 to 25,000 of them. Now scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence that pollutants and chemicals might be altering those genes—not by mutating them, but by sending subtle signals that silence them or switch them on at the wrong tim... Continued...

Friday, July 31, 2009

Two Agencies Take Steps to Improve Food Safety
Strengthening its efforts to keep a deadly strain of E. coli out of meat sold to consumers, the Department of Agriculture said Friday that it would begin regular testing of meat trimmings used to make ground beef. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration said it was working to develop m... Continued...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

House Approves New Food-Safety Laws
In a major step toward an overhaul of the nation’s food safety system, the House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday to require more frequent inspections of processing plants and give the government the authority to order the recall of tainted foods. “No legislation like this has mo... Continued...

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

US House defeats sweeping reform of food safety
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House defeated a proposed sweeping reform of the federal food safety system on Wednesday amid complaints it would bury small farmers in paperwork with no assurance of an increase in inspections. The bill was debated under special rules that limited debate to 40 min... Continued...

Monday, July 27, 2009

House vote expected this week on food-safety bill
The nation's food suppliers will face new fees, inspections and penalties under a multibillion-dollar food-safety bill set for a vote as early as Wednesday by the House of Representatives. From importers and growers to processors and distributors, the painstakingly negotiated 133-page bill touche... Continued...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Chile’s Antibiotics Use on Salmon Farms Dwarfs That of a Top Rival’s
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Chile used almost 350 times more antibiotics in its farmed salmon in 2008 than Norway, its chief competitor and the largest salmon producer in the world, according to official data from both countries. Chile’s Economy Ministry revealed this month that Chile used almost 718,00... Continued...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Food safety report leaves many questions
Twenty-two dead. Hundreds sickened. Six months of inquiry. Nearly $3 million in public money. The result: 57 recommendations for improving a food safety system that allowed listeria buried inside a meat slicer in a Toronto-area Maple Leaf plant to reach nursing homes and stores, graduall... Continued...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

10 Dangerous Household Products You Should Never Use Again
You would never cross the street without looking both ways, walk alone down a dark alley alone at three a.m., or tell your child to accept rides from strangers. So why let hazardous, toxic, and even carcinogenic chemicals into your home everyday? The message driven home for millions of Americ... Continued...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The environmental toll of plastics
From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles auth... Continued...

Food packaging leaks BPA, phthalates
Most people don't worry about what's in food packaging, but the cans, boxes and bottles used as containers for everything from pop to microwave popcorn are an underappreciated route of exposure to synthetic compounds able to disrupt normal hormone functions, according to a new study. The number ... Continued...

Monday, July 6, 2009

We're Getting A Bad Feeling About Our Food
"Does for the supermarket what 'Jaws' did for the beach," says Variety's John Anderson. "Everyone should see 'Food, Inc.,' " enthuses this newspaper. It's high praise, and not undeserved: "Food, Inc." is certainly an important film. But, like the movement that spawned it, it's also a frustrating... Continued...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

IBM survey finds less than 20% of consumers trust food firms
An IBM study released yesterday reveals that less than 20% of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthful for themselves and their families. The study also found that 60% of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase, and 63% ar... Continued...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

American Medical Association Passes Resolution Supporting Sustainable Food System
(Chicago, IL) The American Medical Association (AMA) has approved a new policy resolution in support of practices and policies within health care systems that promote and model a healthy and ecologically sustainable food system. The resolution also calls on the AMA to work with health care and publ... Continued...

Friday, June 12, 2009

The movie Food, Inc. aims to expose dangers in our U.S. food industry
Food Inc., a documentary is being released on June 12 exposing the dirty little secrets behind the food industry. New strains of deadly e-coli are popping up in our meats and no one really seems to care about what is happening to our food supply. Let's just take a look at our chicken supply for ex... Continued...

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in fertilizer
Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) have been found in sewage sludge, a by-product of waste-water treatment frequently used as a fertilizer. Researchers writing in the open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica point out the danger of antibiotic resistance genes passing into the human food... Continued...

Friday, June 5, 2009

Pesticide May Seed American Infant Formulas with Melamine
Infant formulas purchased from stores in Canada show widespread tainting with traces of melamine, a toxic constituent of plastics and other materials. In China, the fraudulent use of melamine as a protein replacement in infant formulas resulted in the poisoning of more than 1,200 babies last year, s... Continued...

Pesticide May Seed American Infant Formulas With Melamine
Infant formulas purchased from stores in Canada show widespread tainting with traces of melamine, a toxic constituent of plastics and other materials. In China, the fraudulent use of melamine as a protein replacement in infant formulas resulted in the poisoning of more than 1,200 babies last year, s... Continued...

Monday, June 1, 2009

Strategy Being Devised To Protect Use of BPA
Manufacturers of cans for beverages and foods and some of their biggest customers, including Coca-Cola, are trying to devise a public relations and lobbying strategy to block government bans of a controversial chemical used in the linings of metal cans and lids. According to internal notes of a ... Continued...