Food

“I think Maine is leading the way,” said State Senator Troy Jackson, the Maine Senate Democratic leader and original sponsor of the bill. “I think we’re really the first state to empower our local municipalities this way.” But in a special legislative session October 23 to address federal concerns about the new law, lawmakers added some clarification: When it comes to meat and poultry inspections, all farmers, regardless of where they conduct business in the state, must follow federal and state meat and poultry regulations. [node:read-more:link]

The Kraft Heinz Company today announced it will up its animal welfare standards for broiler chickens in its U.S. supply chain.  Kraft Heinz said that by 2024, the company will: Source 100 percent of our chicken from breeds approved by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or Global Animal Partnership (GAP) for measurably improved welfare and quality of life [node:read-more:link]

Consumers mix up foods labeled “organic” and “non-genetically modified” and some view the two labels as synonymous, according to a new study by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The study, led by UF assistant professor Brandon McFadden with Purdue University agricultural economics professor Jayson Lusk, explored ways to communicate to consumers whether food has genetically modified ingredients. Researchers conducted a national survey of 1,132 respondents to gauge their willingness to pay for food labeled as genetically modified vs. [node:read-more:link]

New research from the University of Delaware concludes that food labels such as “organic” and “fair trade” can stigmatize foods produced with conventional processes even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm or that products are compositionally different. Such process claims often are not based on science and can cause consumers to misinterpret these labels and misalign their personal preferences and food purchases, the researchers said. [node:read-more:link]

Cargill is offering consumers turkeys with a side of traceability. The company’s Honeysuckle White brand recently launched a pilot project that that uses blockchain technology to trace turkeys produced by family farmers. To learn more about their Thanksgiving turkey, consumers in select markets can text or enter an on-package code at HoneysuckleWhite.com to access the farm’s location by state and county, view the family farm story, see photos from the farm and read a message from the farmer. [node:read-more:link]

There's a genetic technology that scientists are eager to apply to food, touting its possibilities for things like mushrooms that don't brown and pigs that are resistant to deadly diseases. And food industry groups, still reeling from widespread protests against genetically engineered corn and soybeans (aka GMOs) that have made it difficult to get genetically engineered food to grocery store shelves, are looking to influence public opinion.The technology is called Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, or CRISPR. [node:read-more:link]

No sense in crying over spilled milk, but what about $437,000 in legal fees? Florida’s paying that amount to the attorneys of Ocheesee Creamery, which is about 50 miles west of Tallahassee. State officials under Adam Putnam’s Department of Agriculture had pushed to label the dairy’s skim milk as imitation, because vitamins aren’t added to it, according to the Associated Press.The state defines skim milk as having Vitamin A. [node:read-more:link]

The countdown to the opening of Eataly’s massive food theme park begins. Fico Eataly World, which promises to be the “world’s largest agri-food park,” according to a press release, will open on November 15 in Bologna, Italy. Like the Eataly markets in New York, Dubai, and Boston, the Bologna complex will include Italian restaurants and Italian products. [node:read-more:link]

JD.com’s exclusive products will include bone-in cuts and variety meats, with a focus on small packaged frozen products. Smithfield specializes in these products and they are the types of products in high demand in China. [node:read-more:link]

In an audit released October 13, the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General once again found that the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) inadequate oversight of imported meat and poultry is putting U.S. consumers at risk. FSIS is supposed to determine whether countries that export meat, poultry, egg products or catfish have a regulatory system that can meet the standards required in the United States. However, the OIG audit reveals that FSIS is not doing enough oversight of the process used to determine which countries have “equivalent” food safety systems. [node:read-more:link]