Food & Water Watch pressed USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to say whether meat inspected by private third-party firms in Australia will be allowed into the United States. The EU rejected that inspection model in 2013 over conflict of interest; the US approved it in 2011.
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Page 24 of 63
Politics
Food law, regulation, government advisories and the legal fights over what reaches your plate.
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Law & Regulations
USDA Strengthens Procedures for Detecting and Removing Unsafe Ground Beef
FSIS announced procedures to trace contaminated ground beef back to its source faster, pull it from commerce and find the root cause. The step follows a proposal that retailers keep records of their ground beef suppliers and new lab methods testing for several pathogens at once.
Politics
USDA ignores Americans, looks to approve 2,4-D crops
An advocacy alert urging readers to sign a petition during a 30-day comment period against USDA approval of Dow's 2,4-D-tolerant crops. It says approval would send pesticide use soaring and links 2,4-D to cancer, Parkinson's, endocrine disruption and dioxin contamination.
Politics
Mutated Sperm, Farmer Suicides, and Jeffrey Smith vs Neil deGrasse Tyson - from Spilling the Beans
The newsletter posts Jeffrey Smith's rebuttal to Neil deGrasse Tyson's remarks on GMOs, points to a film on the 296,466 Indian farmer suicides recorded between 1995 and 2013, and flags a study linking Roundup to sperm malformation.
Law & Regulations
Proposed Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label - FDA
The FDA has proposed updating the Nutrition Facts label, introduced 20 years ago, with revised serving size requirements, new rules for certain package sizes and a refreshed design. Two proposed rules went out for public comment, which closed August 1, 2014.
Politics
Wanted: Celebrity Chef to Promote Monsanto - Newsletter 08.07.14 from Organic Consumers Association
An Organic Consumers Association newsletter on Toledo, where more than 400,000 residents could not drink or bathe in their tap water for two days. It attributes the Lake Erie algae blooms to phosphorus from fertilizer and manure runoff across the farm-heavy Maumee watershed, plus hotter summers.
Politics
Huge win for our movement
The Center for Food Safety marks the Fish and Wildlife Service decision to end use of genetically engineered crops and bee-toxic neonicotinoids on more than 150 million acres of refuge land, credits five lawsuits over a decade, and asks readers to donate.
Advisories
USDA Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Tropical Storms Iselle and Julio
With Tropical Storms Iselle and Julio approaching Hawaii, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service urges residents to prepare for power outages: keep thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer, freeze water in small containers, and freeze perishables ahead of the storm.
Advisories
'Gluten-Free' Now Means What It Says
As of August 5, 2014, any food labeled gluten-free, without gluten, free of gluten or no gluten must contain under 20 parts per million of gluten under an FDA rule issued in 2013. Celiac disease advocates welcomed the standard, since diet is the only way to manage the disease.
Politics
Release: Right to Know Colorado Turns in 167,950 Signatures for GMO Labeling Ballot Initiative
Right to Know Colorado delivered 167,950 signatures to the Secretary of State at an August 4 rally on the Capitol steps in Denver, nearly double the 86,105 required to put GMO labeling Initiative 48 on the fall statewide ballot.
Advisories
Nutrition Basics Help Fight Child Obesity
FDA dietitian Shirley Blakely tells parents to read two things on packaged food: the Nutrition Facts panel and the ingredient list, which runs in descending order. A grain listed first on a cereal is a good sign; sugar first means added sugars are displacing more nutritious ingredients.
Advisories
Toledo, Ohio warns residents not to drink public drinking water
Toledo told more than 400,000 residents not to drink tap water after two samples from one treatment plant showed microcystin, a toxin produced by Lake Erie algae, above the standard for consumption.
Politics
Feeding GMOs to Wildlife and Spraying Bee-Killing Pesticides at National Refuges?
The US Fish and Wildlife Service said in an internal memo that it will ban neonicotinoid pesticides and phase out genetically engineered feed for wildlife by January 2016, after a decade of lawsuits and petitions from the Center for Food Safety and PEER.
Politics
Organics, Mad Cow & Bee Killers - 08/01/14 newsletter from Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association newsletter highlights a European review of 343 studies reporting organic foods carry 18 to 69 percent more antioxidants and fewer pesticide residues than conventional, plus an alert on secretly negotiated trade deals and food safety rules.
Law & Regulations
Food Safety Modernization Act and Animal Feed
An FDA page collecting the Food Safety Modernization Act material most relevant to makers and distributors of animal and pet food, covering the law's five key areas, among them preventive controls, inspection and compliance, and imported food safety, plus fiscal 2015 reinspection fee rates.
Law & Regulations
USDA Announces Additional Food Safety Requirements, New Inspection System for Poultry Products
USDA's FSIS announced the New Poultry Inspection System, requiring poultry companies to control Salmonella and Campylobacter and repositioning inspectors within plants. The agency estimates up to 5,000 foodborne illnesses prevented a year, replacing a model dating to 1957.
Politics
Food & Water Watch Denounces USDA Plans to Privatize Poultry Inspection
USDA's final rule moves most poultry inspection to company employees, says Food & Water Watch's Wenonah Hauter, who calls the 140-birds-per-minute cap no real victory: the remaining USDA inspector must still check 2.33 birds a second, with no worker safety rules attached.
Politics
Breaking News: Big Food Spends Millions to Hide the Truth - New EWG report
EWG reports that Big Food groups opposing labels on genetically engineered ingredients disclosed $9 million in lobbying that mentioned GE labeling in the first quarter of 2014, nearly their whole 2013 total. The message doubles as an appeal to raise $35,000 by midnight.
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