Food

Complying with European Union legislation adds, on average, an extra 16 percent to the cost of egg production in Europe, a new study reveals. These additional costs of egg production at the farm level directly relate to European legislation on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety, according to new research from the Economic Research Institute (LEI) of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Most of the additional cost arises from the minimum 750 square centimeter space allowance per bird in enriched cages in the EU. [node:read-more:link]

Federal officials are attempting to seize more than $70,000 in raw camel milk products stored in a warehouse in Kansas City, KS, including some bearing labels from a Missouri dairy, because they were allegedly shipped in interstate commerce in violation of federal law. In an action filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, KS, the Department of Justice states that inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration estimate about 4,300 8- and 16-ounce bottles of frozen camel milk, colostrum and kefir are stored in the My Magic Kitchen Inc. [node:read-more:link]

Six percent of U.S. households are access-burdened: they do not use their own vehicle to travel to the store for groceries and live more than 0.5 mile from the nearest SNAP-authorized supermarket or superstore (SM/SS), which we use to proxy the nearest source of healthy and affordable food. Further analysis showed that: • Seventy-seven percent of access-burdened households reported a shopping event at a supermarket, superstore, large grocery store, or warehouse store during the survey week compared to 87 percent for households with sufficient access. [node:read-more:link]

An internal USDA audit has found shortcomings in the agency’s system for ensuring foreign meat and egg inspections are equivalent to those in the U.S. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspections Service is charged with ensuring meat and egg products imported into the U.S. are subject to equivalent protections against food safety hazards.Auditors from USDA’s Office of Inspector General said the agency has a “robust system” for scrutinizing countries that apply to export meat and eggs to the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it will override Maine’s ability to run its own meat inspection program unless the state clarifies the law. Maine’s Department of Agriculture is concerned that the law would keep it from inspecting any meat slaughtered and processed in a town that is food sovereign, negating an agreement it has with the USDA to meet federal standards. The prospect that meat-processing facilities like Bisson’s could close, even temporarily, has sent food producers across Maine into a state of near panic and confusion. [node:read-more:link]

Unsurprisingly, the session that left me with the most questions was one titled “The Mystery of Meat,” featuring speakers from Beyond Meat (plant-based burger company), Mosa Meat (cultured meat) and Memphis Meats (cultured meat). The speakers (aided by representatives in the audience from HSUS and The Good Food Institute, which is a spinoff of Mercy for Animals focused on promoting meat alternatives) pushed the term “clean meat” for their products. If you follow my blogs, you know I have a bone to pick with that word choice. [node:read-more:link]

A dairy industry group with strong ties to Wisconsin has added more examples to its list of what the group says is “fear-based” food labeling. [node:read-more:link]

Tens of thousands of wilting South Floridians stood hours in the sweltering, soggy heat Sunday at Tropical Park, waiting to apply for special food stamps available only to victims Hurricane Irma, stunning state officials who were expecting just a fraction of that response. “We’ve been dealing with about 10,000 people a day,” said Ofelia Martinez, the Miami site manager for the state Department of Children and Families (DCF). “But when we opened the doors this morning, the police told us there were already 50,000 people waiting outside.” [node:read-more:link]

For at least the third time this year, the crowd-sourced website iwaspoisoned.com has identified a foodborne illness outbreak, this time among students who ate at a Georgia Tech dining hall. The “North Avenue Dining Hall” at the university in Atlanta started showing up in reports on the foodborne illness website in the past couple of days. When such clusters of reports at one foodservice location pop up, Patrick Quade keeps a close eye on the website he launched in 2009. [node:read-more:link]

Crowd Cow delivers premium beef from small, independent farms to foodies nationwide. “People are looking for more clarity about what they’re eating,” says co-founder Ethan Lowry. The company sells one cow at a time, offering shares to customers who’ve signed up for email alerts. [node:read-more:link]