Agricultural industry sources are wary of a proposal by President Obama to consolidate FDA and USDA food safety regulatory authority into a single agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Click here for the full story
President Obama's budget proposes to consolidate the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and all of FDA’s food safety oversight functions. Click here for the full story
Food safety rules leave some farm sectors with questions about on-farm processing. Click here for the full story
A food safety expert advised prune producers to stress cleanliness and good record-keeping as new federal produce safety rules loom. Click here for the full story
Idaho and Oregon onion farmers are happy that FDA officials will significantly alter some of their proposed new food safety rules, including one that would require weekly water testing. Click here for the full story
The Food and Drug Administration says it will revise sweeping new food safety rules proposed earlier this year after farmers complained the rules could hurt business. Click here for the full story
A bi-partisan group of congressmen from both chambers is asking the FDA to submit a second set of proposed food safety rules for public comment. The Nov. 25 letter was signed by 75 members of Congress. Click here for the full story
Opposition to the Food and Drug Administration's proposed produce safety rule has been led by the Idaho-Oregon onion industry and FDA officials' recent visit to the Pacific Northwest centered around that sector. But onions are only one of an estimated 200 commodities that would have to meet the proposed standards, which include limits on how much bacteria could be detected in irrigation water.
Food and Drug Administration officials visited farms, packing sheds and irrigation systems in Idaho, Oregon and Washington this week to get a first-hand look at how their proposed produce safety rule could impact farmers.
Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," available at http://bit.ly/BiotechBacklash
A top Food and Drug Administration official is visiting the Pacific Northwest to hear directly from farmers about their concerns regarding the agency's proposed food safety rules for agricultural water.
Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," available at http://bit.ly/BiotechBacklash
The Food and Drug Administration has announced it will expand its outreach effort to farmers to address questions relating to the agency's proposed produce safety rules.
Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," available at http://bit.ly/BiotechBacklash
The beef-processing company that makes the product that critics call "pink slime" continues to struggle more than a year after the initial stories on the lean bits of beef that Beef Products Inc. makes.
Some ground beef may evade USDA testing for E. coli bacteria due to a lack of clarity in agency protocols, according to an internal audit.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule that makes it easier for the agency to detain adulterated or misbranded food.
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While many small farmers and packers will be exempt from recently proposed federal food safety rules, experts say they may still be affected. Food companies will likely be reluctant to buy crops for raw consumption from growers who don't comply.
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The Food and Drug Administration has proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.
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The Cattlemen's Beef Board posts this about the Beef Checkoff, the per-head fee paid when cattle are sold to support research and promotion of the industry:
America’s beef farmers and ranchers today are facing unprecedented challenges which curtail their ability to provide a safe, nutritious and delicious protein food to a global population. In recent years, marketplace competition among animal protein sources has intensified. Consumer attitudes and needs have evolved, impacted by both the changing nutrition environment and the recession. In addition, activists opposing animal agriculture have increased their coffers, stepped up their media campaigns, and expanded their activities into the legislative and regulatory arenas at both the state and national level.
The beef checkoff is both proactive and reactive in response to these challenges. Through integrated programming, the checkoff launches marketing and communication programs that highlight those demand drivers that impact consumer attitudes and behaviors about beef.
The checkoff’s Research, Education, and Innovation (REI) department provides the scientific evidence used to develop the essential messages supporting these marketing, communication, and issues-response efforts, but also makes available tools and technologies to help increase industry effectiveness in producing a great tasting, nutritious and safe beef product for consumers who continue to love beef.
The checkoff program areas -- Beef Quality Assurance, Beef Safety Research, Product Enhancement Research, Human Nutrition Research, New Products and Culinary Initiatives, as well as the Producer Education program -- collaborate to ensure the best beef product possible reaches the marketplace.
This year’s REI annual update highlights how the checkoff is providing all segments of the industry with the knowledge to support new technologies, such as pre- and post-harvest safety interventions, and new communication messages that inform consumers about beef’s taste and nutrition advantages.
“Ultimately, America’s beef-producing farmers and ranchers reap the benefit through increased profitability,” says Craig Uden, chair of the REI group and producer from Cozad, Neb. “We will continue to develop the knowledge that protects and expands our industry as it feeds a global population.”
The full annual update can be downloaded here.
From the National Cattlemen's Beef Association:
WASHINGTON (Dec. 22, 2010) – The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The legislation has been passed by the House and Senate, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law soon.
“We are extremely disappointed the House passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Food safety knows no size, and exempting some small producers and processors from the legislation, as the Tester/Hagan amendment will do, sets a dangerous precedent for the future our nation’s food safety system. Instead of including the Tester/Hagan language, Congress should have passed legislation to set appropriate standards for all products in the marketplace, no matter the size of the producing entity. Going forward, NCBA will continue supporting improvements to our nation’s food safety system that are based on sound science, focused on industry application and have a strong research foundation.”
From Reuters:
There is a growing risk that pigs will catch the new H1N1 flu strain -- commonly known as swine flu -- from humans, German researchers said on Thursday.The researchers' findings are consistent with what we've been hearing from producers for the past three months -- more of a concern that pigs would get the disease from people than vice versa. That concern led to Oregon State Veterinarian Don Hansen's controversial guidelines directing that a certain distance be kept between people and swine at fairs.Widespread transmission from people to pigs could mix up virus strains further, leading to unpredictable changes in the disease.
There have already been a handful of suspected cases of humans passing the current pandemic H1N1 virus to swine. The latest German research confirms it is infectious to pigs and can spread rapidly.
Pork producers have to be feeling a little bit like Kevin Bacon's character in "Animal House." This swine flu hysteria is getting out of control.
