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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: USDA

USDA stories: 24 news summaries

1 - 20 of 24 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Video Sting Shuts Down Cruel Slaughterhouse 

Hidden camera catches calves being beaten, skinned alive

Nov 3, 09 2:03 PM CST
(Newser) - The Humane Society released more video yesterday from its hidden camera sting of Bushway Packing, after the USDA shut down the organic veal slaughterhouse on Friday. The footage, shot this summer, isn’t for the queasy; calves too weak to walk are dragged, kicked and shocked repeatedly, among other abuses.... More »

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veal • animal cruelty • USDA • veal farms • organic farming

 'Hobby Farms' Cropping Up 

USDA says small farms are becoming more popular even as large farms grow

Oct 5, 09 12:18 PM CDT
(AP) - Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages, and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall. The 62-year-old, who gardens after his workday ends at his... More »

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agriculture • farming • farms • USDA • farmer • farm • sustainability • farmers • organic farming

INVESTIGATION

 Ground Beef Rife 
 With E. Coli Risk 

NYT investigation shows industry practices that leave lots to be desired

Oct 4, 09 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - A nausea-inducing feature in the New York Times tells you more than you wanted to know about what's actually in commercially produced hamburger, and why it's especially vulnerable, despite FDA regulation and several fatal outbreaks in recent years, to E. coli contamination. The Times follows the case of a 22-year-old... More »

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food • E. coli • food contamination • beef • USDA • ground beef • slaughterhouse • hamburger

'Organic' Foods May Not Be as Pure as You Think

USDA's label increasingly meaningless as agri-business pushes in

Jul 3, 09 8:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Demand for organic food has boomed into a $23 billion-a-year industry, but consumers who often pay twice as much for food with the coveted label aren't always getting what they expect. The criteria for obtaining a "USDA Organic" certification have been relaxed in recent years, with ostensibly organic products... More »

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organic food • organic • USDA • Department of Agriculture • organic farming • women's issues

Virus-Wary Egypt to Destroy All 300K Pigs

USDA says American pork is safe; Russia, China ban imports

Apr 29, 09 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Egyptian government says it will immediately slaughter the country’s entire population of 300,000 pigs to protect against the swine flu, the AP reports. Egypt has stressed that it has no reported cases of the virus, though two infections have been confirmed in neighboring Israel. The move comes... More »

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China • Russia • Egypt • imports • USDA • Tom Vilsack • Department of Agriculture • Obama administration • President Obama • swine flu • pork products • slaughter • H1N1 virus

(AP) - Fear of swine flu is a good reason to wash your hands, but not to take pork off the menu. Federal health officials say the virus that has triggered fears of a flu pandemic is not transmitted by food, and that all food-borne germs are killed when pork is cooked... More »

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FDA • Mexico • United States • USDA • virus • outbreak • pork • swine flu

Peanut Corp. Banned From Federal Work

Salmonella outbreak shows lack of integrity, honesty: USDA

Feb 5, 09 12:05 PM CST
(Newser) - The Peanut Corporation of America was barred today from government contracts for a year as the criminal investigation into a deadly salmonella outbreak sourced to its Georgia plant gathers steam, Reuters reports. “The company lacks business integrity and business honesty,” steamed a Department of Agriculture spokesman. The PCA’... More »

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USDA • salmonella • Department of Agriculture • government contracts • peanut • Peanut Corporation of America

Amish Blast ID Cow Chips
as 'Mark of the Beast'

Farmers sue USDA over Michigan's mandatory tag program

Nov 14, 08 3:44 AM CST
(Newser) - A group of Amish farmers has launched a federal lawsuit against the USDA claiming that electronic ID tags on cattle are the mark of Satan himself, not merely of the Michigan Animal Identification System, Wired reports. The farmers say the mandatory program, aimed at tracking livestock diseases, violates the "... More »

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cattle • religion • USDA • Amish • Satan • RFID • farmers

Heart Disease, Diabetes Linked to Everyday BPA

Chemical common in plastic containers used by US adults, children

Sep 16, 08 12:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - A chemical found in many containers commonly used by Americans is linked to heart disease and diabetes in a new study, the Chicago Tribune reports. The first large-scale human study of Bisphenol A follows a government advisory on using the chemical near food, and a report connecting it to ill... More »

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cardiovascular disease • bisphenol A • USDA • liver • type 2 diabetes • Wal-Mart • scientific study • BPA • Nalgene

Opinion

Beware the
Word 'Natural.' 
It Means Nothing

The FDA won't define it,
so it can be, and is,  slapped on anything

Aug 23, 08 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - "Is that natural artificial yellow coloring?" asks Barry Estabrook in Gourmet. Absurd as the question sounds, it's not, given that the Food and Drug Administration "can't be bothered to define the term at all." Eager to get on the "natural" bandwagon, manufacturers are "shamelessly slapping... More »

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food • organic food • USDA • Food and Drug Administration • Gourmet • natural food

 Record Food Price Hikes Loom

Biggest increases for 20 years forecast

Aug 21, 08 7:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Americans should get ready for pain at the supermarket checkout, reports Reuters—and squash any hopes of food prices getting better next year. A revised USDA forecast predicts a 5% to 6% leap in food prices this year—the biggest increase in 20 years—and USDA officials fear 2009 could... More »

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inflation • cereal • USDA • food prices • Ed Schafer • meat and poultry • fruit and vegetables • Fall harvest

 USDA to Ban 'Downer' Cattle 

Bid to boost confidence in beef

May 21, 08 2:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - The USDA plans to ban all so-called "downer" cattle from the food supply to safeguard consumers from illnesses such as mad cow disease. Such animals are too weak or injured to walk, which can often be an indication of illness. Disturbing video of workers in a California slaughterhouse using... More »

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USDA • Humane Society • mad cow disease • Chino slaughterhouse • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. • slaughterhouse • beef industry • Ed Schafer • bovine spongiform encephalopathy • knock box • American Meat Institute • downer cattle

US Predicts Bumper Crops
Will Ease Food Crisis

Record-breaking grain harvests worldwide expected to bring prices back down

May 10, 08 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Farmers worldwide will reap record-breaking harvests of wheat and rice this year, the US projects, and the news is expected to ease some of the worldwide concern about food prices. The USDA says good weather will bring bumper crops that will replenish depleted stocks, Reuters reports. Analysts warned, however, that... More »

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agriculture • farming • USDA • wheat • crops • wheat prices • food security • global food market • food supply • rice prices

 Behind Organic Labels 
 Lurk Megacorporations  

The nation's top 30 food processors have quietly cornered the green market

Apr 20, 08 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Yes, your probiotic flaxseed Kashi cereal is still organic, but shoppers looking to stick it to the man by going green be advised: the nation's top 30 corporate food processors—think Pepsi, Kellogg, Kraft, General Mills—have been quietly buying up vast swaths of the organic aisle of your supermarket,... More »

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organic food • Pepsi • corporations • USDA • Kraft Foods • food industry

New Methods Help Make Beef Jerky Safer

Longer drying, higher temps kill off more
E. coli, salmonella

Mar 27, 08 3:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Good news for meat lovers in a time of massive beef recalls: Researchers at Kansas State have found a way to make beef jerky safer from E. coli and salmonella, LiveScience reports. They found that a longer drying time would eliminate the pathogens in contaminated beef samples, offering a low-cost... More »

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E. coli • food contamination • beef • USDA • salmonella • beef recall • beef industry • beef jerky • Kansas State

 Cost of Bringing Up Baby: $204K 

And that doesn't include college

Mar 25, 08 9:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Raising that little bundle of joy will come with a not-so-cute $204,060 price tag for middle-income families, according to a new government study. Factoring in inflation, the parents of a child born in 2007 can expect to spend $269,040 by the time that baby turns 18. Actual costs... More »

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food • education • child care • children • parents • housing • USDA • child-rearing • household expenses • urban West • urban Midwest

Meat Company Chief Admits Sick Cows Were Slaughtered

He backtracks after watching second video

Mar 12, 08 3:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - The president of the California slaughterhouse caught up in a scandal over the abuse of cattle admitted to Congress today that sick cows from his plant entered the food supply, the Los Angeles Times reports. He backtracked from an earlier denial after a House panel made him watch a second... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animal cruelty • cows • USDA • Humane Society • House Energy and Commerce Committee • beef recall • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. • beef industry

Cattle Horror Worker: Just 'Following Orders'

Ag secretary insists meat supply is safe

Feb 29, 08 4:11 AM CST
(Newser) - A worker shown in a shocking undercover video jabbing apparently sick cows to their feet for slaughter was following orders from management, his lawyer said yesterday. The attorney made the accusation as he negotiated with federal investigators to work out a plea deal for his client, reports the Wall Street ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
USDA • Humane Society • beef recall • Edward Schafer • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. • beef industry • Rafael Sanchez Herrera • Mario Martinez • undercover video

Disgraced Meatpacker to Close Doors

 Hallmark/Westland sees no hope
of recovery after biggest recall ever

Feb 23, 08 12:34 PM CST
(Newser) - The biggest meat recall in history will put a fork in Hallmark/Westland, the meatpacker’s general manager told the Wall Street Journal. “I don’t see any way we could reopen,” he said. The USDA has said the California company could reopen under the right conditions, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animal cruelty • cows • USDA • Humane Society • beef recall • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

Meat Industry Pushes for
Recall Cutback

School lunch programs received big chunk of problematic beef

Feb 22, 08 1:08 PM CST
(Newser) - The meat industry is trying to convince the USDA to ease up on the largest meat recall in the country's history, the Wall Street Journal reports. Government officials entertained the possibility of exempting products made up only partly of the recalled beef but apparently decided against relaxing the action.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
meat • USDA • beef recall • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

1 - 20 of 24 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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