Growers and Grocers

Unless you don’t follow the news, you’re probably well aware of the latest food scare - tomatoes tainted with salmonella.
The big question that has yet to be answered is how do thousands of pounds of tomatoes get tainted with salmonella, a bacteria that originates in the digestive tracts of humans, birds, and other animals? As […]

A few days ago, the Associated Press had an article with some stunning numbers and information about food imports. In U.S. Food Safety Strained by Imports, Justin Pritchard looks at the rapid rise in imported ingredients–items like guar gum, maltodextrin, and casein (a protein in milk)–and lays out the big picture:
While Americans are consuming more […]

The FDA is expected to approve the use of a powerful antibiotic in cattle, despite warnings it would speed the appearance of resistant microbes.  InterVet, Inc. has applied to market their drug Cefquinome for treatment of a pneumonia-like disease in cows.  It seems that the application will probably be granted due to a change in […]

Last week the Government Accountability Office released their 2007 High Risk Update, which focuses on federal programs that are “high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.” The 2007 update includes three new high risk areas: transportation financing and capacity, protection of technologies critical to U.S. national security, and […]

The House Committee on Agriculture will take the lead in drafting the next Farm Bill, with the House Committee on the Budget and the House Committee on Appropriations also playing important roles in determining how much can be spent and allocating the funds. The new members of the Agriculture Committee for the 110th Congress […]

Originally posted on Fit Fare by Sarah LeMieux
As a nursing mom, as well as a health nut, my interest was doubly piqued when I read a recent article about raw cow’s milk on Salon.com. I already know all the miraculous health benefits of human milk - it confers immunities, prevents allergies, protects against infection - […]

On the heels of the New York City ban, most consumers have at least heard of trans fats. Trans fats, which show up on ingredients labels as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean or vegetable oils, have been in American food since the 1950’s and are found in more items than there is space here to […]

The FDA has just announced that they consider the meat and milk from cloned animals safe for human consumption, and these products could be on supermarket shelves sometime in the not too distant future. 
Despite calls for labeling by consumer, food safety, and animal rights groups, the FDA would likely not support such a move, as such labeling could […]

The FDA has tentatively declared that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe (FDA release, NY Times article in the SF Chronicle, Washington Post article). A few commentators (The Accidental Hedonist and Life Begins at 30, for example) have attacked the FDA’s initial position to not require labels on products deriving from cloned animals. […]

In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration approved a form of “modified atmosphere packaging” that keeps meat looking fresher for an extended period of time by maintaining a bright red color, even after the meat deteriorates and spoils. The process involves extracting most of the gas from the package, and replacing it with a mixture […]