Food Safety

Research Project to Examine Spread of Tobacco Industry Strategies

by Anne Landman — June 2, 2009 - 1:46pm

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant to Northeastern University Law School to research how the tobacco, fast food and sweetened beverage industries use and exploit the concepts of "personal responsibility" and "choice" to avoid liability and litigation for diseases that result from use of their products.

Main Source: 
News@Northeastern, May 28, 2009 (press release)

Food Marketers Try "Local-washing"

by Diane Farsetta — May 26, 2009 - 2:45pm

"The ingenuity of the food manufacturers and marketers never ceases to amaze me," remarked author Michael Pollan. "They can turn any critique into a new way to sell food." Marketers are appropriating language from the "eat local" or "locavore" movement, which encourages support for small farms, sustainable practices and better treatment of animals.

Main Source: 
New York Times, May 12, 2009

Mixed Reports on FDA Efficacy

by Judith Siers-Poisson — June 11, 2008 - 2:24pm

The number of warning letters sent by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to corporations has dropped by 50% in the last decade. In 2002, the regulatory agency decided that all warning letters should go through the office of its chief counsel, a move "designed to strengthen the letters and make them legally consistent and credible." But the change may have just succeeded in slowing the process to a crawl.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), June 7, 2008

More Than You Bargained for in Your Chicken

by Judith Siers-Poisson — June 8, 2008 - 8:11pm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that Tyson Foods routinely gave antibiotics to chicken it raised to sell as meat, and labeled it as antibiotic free.

Main Source: 
MSNBC.com, June 3, 2008

Mad Cows Coming Home to Roost

by Judith Siers-Poisson — May 7, 2008 - 2:48pm

The global increase in grain prices may make the meat supply less safe. The European Union is considering a relaxation of feed bans that prohibit animal by-products being used as feed for other animals in the human food chain.

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), May 4, 2008

Industry Encourages More Regulation, USDA Declines

by Judith Siers-Poisson — May 2, 2008 - 2:04pm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been criticized for not totally banning "downer" cows -- animals "too sick or hurt to stand for slaughter" -- from the food supply. So "when a coalition of major industry groups reversed their position and joined animal advocates and several lawmakers in calling for an absolute ban," why wouldn't the USDA agree?

Main Source: 
Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), April 29, 2008

Monsanto-Funded Front Group Fights Milk Labeling

by Anne Landman — March 10, 2008 - 4:33pm

A new "grassroots" farmers' group with close ties to Monsanto has been formed to outlaw labels that would notify consumers they are buying milk from cows not treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). Monsanto genetically engineers rBGH, called Posilac, which is injected into cows, forcing them to produce more milk.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 9, 2008
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