Food News
More groups ask USDA to distinguish food animal meat from lab-created protein
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on April 12, 2018The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association(NCBA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) are the latest two organizations to call on USDA to establish labeling requirements that better inform consumers about the difference between products that come from food animals and those that were created in a laboratory.
Food allergies may be triggered by exposure to infant wipes, dust and food
Science Daily | Posted on April 10, 2018Infant and childhood food allergy has now been linked to a mix of environmental and genetic factors that must coexist to trigger the allergy, reports a new study. Those factors include genetics that alter skin absorbency, use of infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on the skin, skin exposure to allergens in dust and skin exposure to food from those providing infant care. The good news is factors leading to food allergy can be modified in the home environment.
Midwestern BioAg gets a dream opportunity with new partnership with General Mills
Wisconsin State Journal | Posted on April 10, 2018“Biological farmers want to feed the soil life and create the ideal home (for plants) and we’ve got a whole concept,” Zimmer said. A major food manufacturer, General Mills, agrees. Last month, it announced it was partnering with Midwestern BioAg — the Madison-based biological farming company Zimmer founded in 1979 — to convert the 34,000-acre Gunsmoke Farm near Pierre, South Dakota, into an organic farm. When it’s completed in 2020, it will become the largest organic transition in North America, Zimmer said.
Clean Meat
OFW Law | Posted on April 10, 2018All the time, we hear the loud voices of consumer groups that insist the public must be informed about the food we eat. "Label it organic." "If it has GMOs, the consumer must know." "You should not label it natural if it is not natural," whatever 'natural' means. Now, we have millions of dollars being invested in a new "clean meat" industry. But it’s not "meat," as we know it. It’s not a beef steak or a pork chop. Can the food be labeled "clean meat" or "clean beef" if the product is grown from cell cultures in a lab? Cultured meat products don’t come from conventional animals. Doesn’t the "clean meat" label mislead the grocery shopper?The meat industry has competed against veggie burgers over recent years; but at least they were honest about their vegetable origin. "Clean meat" has no intention of giving up its name, according to Jessie Almy, Policy Director at the Good Food Institute. Glynn Tonsor, a Kansas State University agricultural economist, has this to say: "There are already a lot of alternative proteins out there. But this is the first one that’s using the term 'meat' in marketing and on its labels. 'Clean meat' has a certain ring to it, after all. 'Lab-grown cultured meat product' sounds like a cousin of pink slime." Remember that? Nutritious lean meat was disparaged as "pink slime" and folks are trying to suggest livestock products aren’t "clean." Come on!
Federal court shuts NY cheese facility linked to Listeria outbreak that killed two
USA Today | Posted on April 10, 2018A federal court has shut down the New York creamery linked to a multistate listeriosis outbreak in 2017 that sickened at least eight people, resulting in two deaths. Vulto Creamery LLC and its owner, Johannes Vulto, were ordered to cease all food preparation, production, and related operations at the Walton, N.Y. facility until they can ensure no listeria is present.
Checkoffs return $9 for every dollar spent on marketing
Bloomberg | Posted on April 10, 2018Since the 1990s, the money for campaigns like “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” and “Got Milk?” came from mandatory fees charged to producers to fund the industry organizations. Now the payments are under threat from cattle ranchers and their congressional allies who want to make them optional. They say they’d prefer that advertising not benefit rival beef producers from other countries, who also pay fees, because U.S. beef is best. On average, farmers get paid back about $9 for every dollar spent on the marketing, according to a study co-authored by Gary Williams, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. For example, the United Soybean Board return is $5.20 on average, while egg farmers get back $8.11. “The programs are highly effective,” Williams said. “It’s a very good return per dollar invested.”Still, some large producers balk at the fees, and some have filed suit against the USDA.
NY creamery shut down because owner did not ‘understand’
Food Safety News | Posted on April 5, 2018A federal court has shut down the Walton, NY, creamery that last year was the source of a multistate listeriosis outbreak that infected eight people in four states with listeriosis, resulting in two deaths.
China’s tariffs on U.S. goods could put pressure on Canada’s fruit, wine prices
The Star | Posted on April 5, 2018Retaliatory Chinese tariffs introduced this week on U.S. produce risk prompting American fruit growers to flood the Canadian market, causing wholesale prices to fall, says a group representing Ontario apple growers. The Chinese government announced tariffs on Monday ranging between 15 and 25 per cent on 128 items, including fruit, nuts, pork, wine, steel pipe and aluminum scrap in retaliation for an estimated $3 billion in U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.Ontario Apple Growers general manager Kelly Ciceran says the 15 per cent tariff on fruit such as apples, cherries, peaches, raspberries and cranberries will likely lead to more U.S. produce hitting Canadian stores.
Arizona egg bill gets unanimous Senate approval
Watt Ag Net | Posted on April 5, 2018A bill that would change the amount of time between when an egg is candled and sold, and still be able to be labeled with the AA grade is advancing through the Arizona legislature. Presently, eggs must be sold within 24 days of being laid in order to be called AA eggs. However, under legislation presented by Rep. Jill Norgaard, R-Phoenix, an egg could still carry the AA grade for up to 45 days after it is candled.
The USDA says Crispr-edited foods are just as safe as ones bred the old-fashioned way
Quartz | Posted on April 4, 2018the United States Department of Agriculture announced that it would no longer regulate crops that have been genetically edited. Gene editing, which includes Crispr techniques, enables researchers and now farmers, to genetically nip and tuck the DNA of living things and sell them to consumers. This could mean editing to make plants bigger, more weather-resistant, or juicier.The USDA’s decision only applies to crops that have had some genes taken out, or which have had genes that are endemic to the species added to them. This editing, the regulatory agency says, is essentially a fancy form of accelerated selective breeding, and with high upside. “Genome editing…can introduce new plant traits more quickly and precisely, potentially saving years or even decades in bringing needed new varieties to farmers,” the press release states. Transgenic crops, which are modified to include DNA from other species like bacteria or insects to make them pest-resistant, for example, will still be closely monitored by the regulatory agency.