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At long last, food labeling law set to take effect
Walk into a grocery store after Sept. 30, and you’ll be more likely to find out whether that head of lettuce you are buying was grown in Mexico or the United States. If you pick up a bag of lettuce, however, don’t necessarily expect the same information.
After years of wrangling, so-called “country of origin labeling” is expected to take effect at the end of the month, requiring most food retailers to disclose where many types of meat, produce and other food products come from. The new rules aim to make it easier for regular consumers to know whether their food was imported or not, much like they can find out whether the toys they buy for their children were made domestically or overseas. Walk into a grocery store after Sept. 30, and you’ll be more likely to find out whether that head of lettuce you are buying was grown ... more -
Spam, still the mystery meat, escapes new U.S. food-label rules
"U.S. rules requiring meat and fresh produce to be labeled by national origin are falling short of lawmakers' aims, leaving shoppers in the dark about where mixed vegetables, steaks and Spam come from, some lawmakers say.
Six years after being adopted by Congress, country-of-origin labeling takes effect today. Concern about unsafe imports from China and Canada helped overcome food industry efforts to delay the measures. They will cost companies $2.5 billion in the first year, with retailers spending more to market beef, pork and lamb, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. Industry groups say expenses will be even higher.
Some lawmakers and consumer advocates say loopholes will let meatpackers blur the distinction between foreign and domestic meat. Mixed vegetables are exempt from the requirements, as are processed foods ranging from roasted peanuts to Spam, the canned luncheon meat made by Hormel Foods Corp. More regulations may be needed, the lawmakers say."
Full article at link... "U.S. rules requiring meat and fresh produce to be labeled by national origin are falling short of lawmakers' aims, leaving ... more -
Milk from China isn't safe
China's food safety crisis widened Friday after the industrial chemical melamine was found in milk produced by three of the country's leading dairy companies prompting stores, including Starbucks, to yank milk from their shelves.
The recalls come as evidence is mounting that adding chemicals to watered-down milk was a widespread practice in China's dairy industry.
The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to tainted milk powder, used to make baby formula that has been blamed in the deaths of four infants and for sickening 6,200 other children.
But tests found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from China's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co., as well as Shanghai-based Bright Dairy. The chemical, which is used in plastics and fertilizers, can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added it to watered-down milk to cover up the resulting protein deficiency.
No tainted infant formula has turned up in the United States, where authorities have inspected more than 1,000 retail markets mainly serving Asian communities. China is an importer of liquid milk, so it's unlikely that milk from that country would have been shipped to the U.S.
But the Food and Drug Administration said it is stepping up inspections at ports as a precaution. Inspectors will be sampling bulk shipments of food ingredients from Asia that are derived from milk, such as milk powder and whey powder. The FDA also plans to issue a consumer alert warning people not to buy milk products from China on the Internet. China's food safety crisis widened Friday after the industrial chemical melamine was found in milk produced by three of the count... more -
China arrests 12 in milk scandal
Police in China have arrested 12 more people in connection with the contaminated milk powder scandal which killed three babies and made thousands ill. Police in China have arrested 12 more people in connection with the contaminated milk powder scandal which killed three babies and mad... more
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Almond growers sue USDA to halt mandatory fumigation of raw almonds
After having their organic almond businesses devastated by the USDA's bizarre decision requiring mandatory chemical fumigation of almonds, the almond industry is fighting back. Fifteen American almond growers have filed a lawsuit against the USDA in an attempt to repeal the requirements that all almonds grown in California be fumigated or pasteurized. (Virtually all almonds sold in the United States are grown in California.)
Since the USDA's ruling in 2007, organic almond growers in California have been economically devastated by the mandatory fumigation of almonds. Because USDA rules don't apply to almonds being imported from other countries, however, the industry has seen a huge shift away from U.S. growers and towards almond growers in Spain and other countries. Some American almond farmers have even called the USDA's decision "a plan to destroy the U.S. almond industry and put small organic farmers out of business."
The USDA's plot to deceive consumers over "raw"
The mandatory almond fumigation requirement is seen by health-conscious consumers as not merely bizarre, but downright fraudulent. That's because the USDA's regulations allow fumigated and pasteurized almonds to be labeled "raw," thereby intentionally deceiving the consuming public and instantly destroying consumer trust in the labeling of all almonds.
By any honest measure, the people making these decisions at the USDA can only be described as either idiotic or criminal. To enforce regulations requiring the intentional mislabeling of raw food seems more like the actions of a criminal racket than a government agency. While online pharmacies selling mislabeled pharmaceuticals are routinely raided and shut down by U.S. authorities, when the government itself engages in similar deceptions, it declares itself above the law and immune to prosecution.
This lawsuit by U.S. almonds growers aims to overturn the USDA's deception. These fraudulent actions on the part of the USDA have generated an enormous amount of criticism from the raw food community, whose members depend on almonds to make raw almond milk, raw almond "burgers" and other raw foods preparations. As leaders of the raw foods movement rightly insist, fumigating or pasteurizing nuts destroys as much as 90 percent of their original nutritional value, altering proteins and destroying disease-fighting phytonutrients. The USDA, however, remains remarkably illiterate on this topic, have never made a single statement acknowledging any qualitative difference between cooked foods and raw foods.
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However, the USDA doesn't require this of almonds imported from other countries, only the almonds grown here, mostly from California. Why does the USDA seem to hate the American farmer so much? GM foods, irradiation, and now this. If I didn't know any better, I would say they were out to destroy the livelihoods of American farmers. And again, we have the deceptive description regarding pasteurized nuts as raw with a lack of scientific backup. Is there no end to it? After having their organic almond businesses devastated by the USDA's bizarre decision requiring mandatory chemical fumigation of... more -
New US law requires labels on meat-country of origin labels now required
WASHINGTON - In a few weeks, American shoppers will be able to look at a cut of meat or a pound of hamburger and see something they've never seen before-a label that says where the meat came from.
Starting Sept. 30, food manufacturers and grocery stores have to comply with a new federal law that requires "Country of Origin Labeling," or COOL, on beef, pork, chicken and lamb.
The new labels will tell consumers whether their food came from animals raised in the U.S. or another country. The law also covers perishable items, such as fruits and vegetables and a variety of nuts. Some say this will enable consumers to avoid food that, for example, comes from countries that they have heard have food safety problems. It also will allow consumers to stick to American-grown food, if that is their preference.
Because of the complexities of the livestock industry, some product labels may list multiple countries. That's especially true of ground beef, because some meat processors combine cuts from a number of countries to make ground meat and hamburger patties.
Food safety groups have hailed COOL as a necessary step toward broader consumer education and buying choices. But now they complain that the Department of Agriculture has defined it as narrowly as possible.
For example, they say, the agency has defined a host of foods as "processed," such as mixed frozen vegetables, which exempts them from the new law.
"When they finalized this rule, they bent over backward to make as few things be covered as possible," said Michael Hansen, a senior staff scientist with Consumers Union. "There are giant, giant loopholes in the law."
Many in the meat industry, these advocates say, have fought the new labeling law because they don't want consumers to know that they're buying imported hamburger and beef cuts. The USDA also stood against COOL, according to Lloyd Day, head of the agency's Agricultural Marketing Service, because of its projected impact on consumers and its estimated cost to the food industry: $2.5 billion in the first year.
But Congress has decreed that COOL will take effect on Sept. 30, so the debate over its merits is largely over. Now the industry is bracing for COOL's impact.
"We don't know exactly how it's all going to work," said Colin Woodall, the executive director of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "And we won't know until it's fully up and running."
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I'm sure there are loopholes to this especially where $$$ are concerned, but at least there is a law calling for country of origin labels on meat. I personally don't eat meat any longer, but for those who do, look for it on your labels starting Sept. 30th. Now we have to keep fighting to get the source of the food noted on labels as in genetically modified versus conventional. Then we will be making progress in full disclosure to consumers. WASHINGTON - In a few weeks, American shoppers will be able to look at a cut of meat or a pound of hamburger and see something they�... more -
Second infant death in milk scandal
BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported on Monday the death of a second infant from tainted milk powder in a growing scandal that left hundreds more ill but only led to a product recall after the New Zealand government raised the alarm.
Two traders were arrested for selling up to 3 tonnes of contaminated milk a day, police reported.
The latest death blamed on infant milk powder made by the Sanlu Group was in Gansu province, a poor northwestern region where the first infant fatality linked to the chemical-laced milk was also reported, the official Xinhua news agency said.
One of the infants was a five-month-old boy who died in May. The other was an eight-month-old girl who died in July after her parents removed her from hospital, health ministry official Wang Yu told a news conference.
"The family refused an operation to insert a catheter and abandoned treatment," Wang said, without explaining why.
By Monday morning, 1,253 children had been diagnosed with illnesses linked to the milk powder, with 340 still in hospital and 53 "relatively serious", Vice Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei told the news conference. At the weekend, officials said 432 children were ill from the milk powder.
Milk powder producer Sanlu, 43 percent owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, last week halted production after investigators found the chemical compound melamine in its powder was causing kidney stones and complications in infants.
The scandal threatens to batter the nation's troubled product safety record soon after the public relations success of the Beijing Olympics and following a string of scares last year. Continued... BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported on Monday the death of a second infant from tainted milk powder in a growing scandal that left hund... more -
NZ firm warned of China milk risk
A Chinese firm accused of selling milk powder that has made babies unwell was warned in August over the safety of its product, its partner and co-owner says.
New Zealand-based dairy giant Fonterra said it had urged China's Sanlu Group to recall the tainted powder six weeks before Sanlu took adequate action. The Fonterra farmers' co-operative owns a 43% stake in Sanlu. More than 400 babies in China have been taken ill after using milk contaminated with the industrial chemical, melamine. Melamine is used to make plastics and is banned from food. Ingesting it can lead to the development of kidney stones. At least one child has reportedly died in China as a result of using the contaminated milk, which the firm recalled from sale on Thursday.
(continued at link) A Chinese firm accused of selling milk powder that has made babies unwell was warned in August over the safety of its product, its par... more -
Chinese baby milk scare 'severe'
The number of Chinese babies known to have fallen ill with kidney stones as a result of contaminated milk powder has risen to 432, officials have announced.
"This is a severe food safety accident," health ministry official Gao Qiang, said. Those responsible would be "severely" punished, he added.
Later, it was announced that 19 people had been arrested.
Tests showed the milk powder contained the industrial chemical melamine. One infant has died.
The new scare revived memories of a fake baby milk formula scandal four years ago in which at least 13 babies died.
Vow to punish
"As of 12 September, there are 432 cases of kidney stones in the urinary systems of infants according to reports from health departments nationwide," Gao Qiang said.
"None of the milk powder was exported to other countries or regions," Mr Gao said.
"Only a fraction of the milk powder was sold to Taiwan for food processing," he added.
Gao Qiang said the Sanlu Group had been ordered to halt production after its products were found to be responsible.
"We will severely punish and discipline those people and workers who have acted illegally," Mr Gao said.
Melamine is a toxic chemical used in plastics, fertilisers and cleaning products.
New Zealand-based dairy product company Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd, a part-owner of Sanlu, ordered a recall of about 700 tonnes of powder contaminated with melamine believed to be in circulation.
Melamine has been used by Chinese suppliers of animal feed components to make them appear to have more protein.
It was linked to the formation of kidney stones and kidney failure in pets in the United States last year, leading to thousands of deaths and illnesses.
A fake milk powder scandal in 2004 killed at least 13 babies in the eastern province of Anhui.
Investigators found that the milk given to these babies had no nutritional value, and the resulting scandal triggered widespread investigations into food safety. The number of Chinese babies known to have fallen ill with kidney stones as a result of contaminated milk powder has risen to 432, off... more -
Urine test may identify Mad Cow Disease
Canadian scientists say they may have discovered a breakthrough in testing cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Currently, tests require samples of brain tissue to identify the cause of the disease: misfolded prions (sort of like infectious proteins). But these tests can't be used on live animals or people.
Instead, this new Canadian research uses a urine test to identify protein traces in live cattle. After comparing the urine of four BSE-infected cattle with four healthy cattle, they found "the pattern of protein changes was 100 percent accurate in detecting cattle with BSE."
Since the human variant of the brain-wasting disease, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), is caused by eating BSE-infected meat, a urine test for humans would greatly assist doctors in narrowing down diagnoses of CJD. Some researchers believe that some people diagnosed with dementia or alzheimers disease may in fact have CJD. But most of these people don't have brain autopsies after they've passed, so there's really no way to know if CJD is more prevalent than we think -- if more beef cattle are inflicted with mad cow disease. Canadian scientists say they may have discovered a breakthrough in testing cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad c... more -
How Salmonella contaminates our salads
The new study shows how some Salmonella bacteria use the long stringy appendages they normally use to help them 'swim' and move about to attach themselves to salad leaves and other vegetables, causing contamination and a health risk. Food poisoning from Salmonella and E. coli is commonly associated with eating contaminated bovine or chicken products, as the pathogens live in the guts of cows and the guts and egg-ducts of chickens, and contamination of meat can occur during the slaughtering process. However, some recent outbreaks of food poisoning have been associated with contaminated salad or vegetable products, and more specifically, pre-bagged salads. For example, in 2007 a Salmonella outbreak in the UK was traced back to imported basil, and an E. coli outbreak in the USA in 2006 was traced to contaminated pre-packed baby spinach. Between 1996 – 2000, 23% of the UK's infectious intestinal disease outbreaks like salmonella and E. coli were caused by contaminated food, and of these, 4% were linked to prepared salad.
The new research, led by Professor Gadi Frankel from Imperial College London and carried out with Dr Rob Shaw and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, has uncovered the mechanism used by one particular form of Salmonella called Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg, to infect salad leaves, causing a health risk to people who eat them. Understanding the mechanism that pathogens such as salmonella use to bind themselves to salad leaves is important if scientists are to develop new methods of preventing this kind of contamination and the sickness it causes. Scientists know that Salmonella and E. coli O157 – a strain of E. coli that can cause serious sickness in humans - can spread to salads and vegetables if they are fertilised with contaminated manure, irrigated with contaminated water, or if they come into contact with contaminated products during cutting, washing, packing and preparation processes. However, until now, scientists did not understand how the pathogens managed to bind to the leaves. Professor Frankel and his colleagues at the University of Birmingham found that Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg bacteria have a secondary use for their flagella - the long stringy 'propellers' they use to move around. The flagella flatten out beneath the bacteria and cling onto salad leaves and vegetables like long thin fingers. To test this observation the scientists genetically engineered salmonella without flagella in the lab and found that they could not attach themselves to the leaves, and the salad remained uncontaminated. Professor Frankel says: "Discovering that the flagella play a key role in Salmonella's ability to contaminate salad leaves gives us a better understanding then ever before of how this contamination process occurs. Once we understand it, we can begin to work on ways of fighting it." The new study shows how some Salmonella bacteria use the long stringy appendages they normally use to help them 'swim' and m... more -
Scientists warn of health risks in salad packs
The growing popularity of pre-packed salads is likely to lead to an increase in food poisoning cases, scientists warned yesterday at a conference on food safety in Aberdeen.
Professor Gadi Frankel, from Imperial College London, said there had been recent outbreaks that could specifically be related to pre-packed salads, including a salmonella outbreak in the UK last year traced to imported basil, and an E coli outbreak in the US in 2006 traced to pre-packed baby spinach.
Frankel said: "In their efforts to eat healthily, people are eating more salad products, choosing to buy organic brands and preferring the ease of 'pre-washed' bagged salads from supermarkets.
"All of these factors, together with the globalisation of the food market, mean that cases of salmonella and E coli poisoning caused by salads are likely to rise in the future."
He said that a label stating food was pre-washed did not necessarily mean it was safe to eat and, although the risk of poisoning remained low, consumers should make "informed" decisions.
Frankel said that researchers would try to identify the factors that made some salad leaves less susceptible to salmonella, to protect others from contamination in future. The findings were presented at the Food Micro 2008 conference in Aberdeen.
The conference's main speaker today will be microbiologist Hugh Pennington, who will ask whether lessons have been learned from an E coli outbreak in Lanarkshire in 1996 in which 21 elderly people died. The growing popularity of pre-packed salads is likely to lead to an increase in food poisoning cases, scientists warned yesterday at a... more -
Your salad may come with a bullet
A disturbing trend sweeping across California’s salad farms: farmers are taking to the gun to hunt down and kill all wildlife (wild pigs, rabbits and deer) near their fields. These drastic measures have come about because of the 2006 salmonella spinach contamination. Farmers of spinach, lettuce, and other salad greens, are now terrified of losing all that business again and are making sure to get rid of any animals that might contaminate their crops with E. coli in their fecal matter.
Although nobody knows for sure what caused the E. coli outbreak, some farmers are even going so far as to remove native trees on their fields to make the land completely uninhabitable to wildlife. One spinach farmer even poisoned nearby ponds to kill the frogs that might get caught in harvesting machinery, because of the risk they might carry unwanted bacteria on their webbed feet.
This is a far cry from the sustainable practices of organic or smaller family farms, and brings to light the very frightening war between industrial farming and nature. It seems counterintuitive to destroy nature for the sake of growing plants, but considering all the chemicals used, conventionally-produced spinach and lettuce hardly seem like plants at all. More motivation to grow my own garden. A disturbing trend sweeping across California’s salad farms: farmers are taking to the gun to hunt down and kill all wildlife (wild pi... more -
How old is your food?
"Between 90 days and six months, we start seeing a breakdown of the aspartame and end up with products that give an extremely bitter flavour - and we don't even know the safety of that yet. They should absolutely bear a label."
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Ever wonder how long the food at your local supermarket has sat there, waiting to be brought home and consumed? You might be surprised! "Between 90 days and six months, we start seeing a breakdown of the aspartame and end up with products that give an extremely bit... more -
FDA plots to mislead consumers over irradiated foods: Natural News
"Consumer awareness is considered undesirable by the FDA; an agency that also works hard to censor truthful statements about nutritional supplements and functional foods. Accordingly, the FDA pursues a policy of enforced ignorance of consumers regarding irradiated foods, nutritional supplements, medicinal herbs and all sorts of natural substances. It is currently illegal in the United States to state that cherries help ease arthritis inflammation if you are selling cherries. http://www.naturalnews.com/019366.html)
On the food irradiation issue, the FDA is now proposing two things that are nothing short of astonishing in their degree of deceit:
FDA proposal #1: Irradiated foods shouldn't be labeled as irradiated unless consumers can visibly tell they're irradiated.
This ridiculous proposal by the FDA suggests that foods shouldn't be labeled as irradiated unless there is some obvious material damage to the foods (like their leaves are wilting). Thus, foods that don't appear to be irradiated should not have to be labeled as irradiated.
Imagine if this same ridiculous logic were used to regulate heavy metals content in foods: If consumers can't SEE the heavy metals, then they should be declared free of heavy metals!
FDA proposal #2: Irradiated foods should be labeled as "pasteurized," not "irradiated."
This FDA proposal is so bizarre that it makes you wonder whether the people working at the FDA are smoking crystal meth. They literally want irradiated foods to be labeled as "pasteurized."
And why? Because the word "pasteurized" sounds a lot more palatable to consumers, of course. Never mind the fact that it's a lie. Irradiated foods are not pasteurized, and pasteurized foods are not irradiated. These two words mean two different things, which is precisely why they each have their own entries in the dictionary. When you look up "irradiated," it does not say, "See pasteurized."
But the FDA is now playing the game of thought police by manipulating the public with screwy word replacement games that bear a strange resemblance to the kind of language used in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. And it is, indeed, an Orwellian kind of mind game that the FDA wants to play with the food supply: After unleashing Weapons of Mass Destruction (radiation) onto the foods, the FDA wants to label them all as simply being "pasteurized," keeping consumers ignorant and uninformed.
How do I know the FDA wants to do this? The agency said so itself in an April 4, 2007 document filed in the Federal Register (Volume 72, Number 64). As published in the document (2):
FDA is also proposing to allow a firm to petition FDA for use of an alternate term to "irradiation'' (other than "pasteurized''). In addition, FDA is proposing to permit a firm to use the term "pasteurized'' in lieu of "irradiated,'' provided it notifies the agency that the irradiation process being used meets the criteria specified for use of the term "pasteurized'' in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) and the agency does not object to the notification."
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This deception is simply so immoral and so absolutely out of the realm of all humanity that I find it hard to wrap my head around it. The FDA, an organization of the US federal government that is supposedly here for our safety, only sees us as guinea pigs. They did it with GM foods, Rbgh, and the countless drugs on the market killing people, and they now do it with radioactive food without our consent. I don't even know what to say anymore. And this is so important because people otherwise will not know of this unless it gets out to the masses, and yet the media will not tell people about this. How many will have to get sick or die before it is considered news? "Consumer awareness is considered undesirable by the FDA; an agency that also works hard to censor truthful statements about nutr... more -
Sick Cows, Not Food
In February, 2008, the USDA ordered the largest recall of meat in US history (143 million pounds), and some think it highlights potentially systemic weaknesses in how we inspect our nation's food supply. In February, 2008, the USDA ordered the largest recall of meat in US history (143 million pounds), and some think it highlights potent... more
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New for kids: arsenic rice
A 'superfood' rice product may contain unsafe levels of the poison Arsenic, according to research from the UK.
Okay, so it's actually Rice BRAN, but it made you look right? A study suggests that the bran, which is the shavings left after raw rice is polished to make the white variety we are familiar with, may contain "inappropriate" levels of the naturally occurring poison.
[Disclaimer: In no way is the above story linked to Rice Krispies; the image is used merely to illustrate the popularity and widespread consumption of rice: a by-product of which may contain unsafe levels of a poisonous substance]. A 'superfood' rice product may contain unsafe levels of the poison Arsenic, according to research from the UK. ... more -
The Meatrix
Do YOU want to know what the Meatrix is? Take the red pill...and watch this video
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Sustainable Table: Sustainable vs Industrial
Have you ever wondered exactly how sustainable agriculture is better than industrial? The this is an easy reference that quickly and easily shows the difference between sustainable and industrial agriculture. Have you ever wondered exactly how sustainable agriculture is better than industrial? The this is an easy reference that quickly and e... more
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Dairy Industry short animated film: The Meatrix II
Critically-acclaimed, award-winning Meatrix movie - The Meatrix II: Revolting
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Food Safety
