Food

Washington, DC - 10/30/2009 - A survey of state health departments regarding their capacity to track produce-related foodborne illnesses found that the response and investigation of outbreaks varies greatly and can lead to delays in public-health response.

The survey was commissioned by the Produce Safety Project (PSP), an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, and conducted by Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.). Thirty-nine of the 51 state and District of Columbia health departments responded to the survey, which asked about the types of questions and questionnaires administered to victims of foodborne illness, the time frame in which they were completed, and how states collected and stored the resulting data for calendar year 2007.    » read more »

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC -- Following an announcement by the U.N. Food Agency of a record one billion people in the world who go hungry, U.S. Senator Bob Casey today took to the Senate floor to urge his Senate colleagues to take action on global food security and pass the Global Food Security Act.

“This is a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions that we can go a long way towards solving,” Senator Casey said. “This crisis is solvable with a combination of assistance and emphasis on providing small farmers around the world with the know-how, technology and means to provide for themselves.”    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/19/2009 - Sixteen Americans who have been directly affected by foodborne illness gathered at the White House recently to share their personal stories and meet Sam Kass, assistant White House chef, who cooks for the Obama family and is an advisor on food policy; Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who is the lead staffer for the White House Food Safety Working Group; and David Lazarus, senior advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture, who coordinates with the White House on food safety issues.

Representing the millions of Americans who fall ill each year from contaminated food, the victims and relatives of victims appealed to the Obama administration to urge congressional lawmakers to pass food safety legislation this year.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the selection of Princeton-based Mathematica Policy Research to conduct a major survey on food choices and expenditures by U.S. households – the National Household Food Purchase and Acquisition Study (NHFPAS).

"Helping American families improve their overall health is one of my top priorities," said Vilsack. "This ambitious 5-year effort will fill in critical gaps in existing data on the food purchases of U.S. households and be invaluable in assessing and enhancing the effectiveness of USDA's food assistance programs for low-income families."    » read more »

Urge City to make commitment to keep Center in Coney Island indefinitely, beyond lease expiration of May 2010

October 16, 2009 -- NEW YORK, N.Y. – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Councilman Domenic Recchia, State Senators Diane Savino and Carl Kruger, and Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny expressed thanks to Robert Doar, Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA), for his willingness to maintain services at the City’s Coney Island Food Stamp Center.    » read more »

October 16, 2009 -- Washington, DC - In response to a statement from the American Meat Institute that said that the E. coli Eradication Act authored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would only "duplicate" testing currently being done by the industry, Senator Gillibrand said that in the absence of corporate responsibility, Congress must act.

"The meat industry makes some valuable points about the need to handle and cook ground beef carefully, but they are choosing to ignore their own best practices. Leading processors in the industry, like Costco, have already determined that they cannot rely on suppliers alone to test the meat. Costco says that testing the meat they receive from slaughterhouses is ‘incumbent upon' them, and I agree.    » read more »

Washington, Oct 8 - Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) yesterday voted to pass legislation that will enhance food safety, boost rural economies, protect Americans against price fluctuations for necessities, and help feed struggling families. The Agriculture Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 263 to 162. The bill provides funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).    » read more »

Vancouver, British Columbia - 10/08/2009 - Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a study led by the Sea Around Us Project at The University of British Columbia.

In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world’s fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world. The study is published today in the journal Global Change Biology.    » read more »

Biotechnology Stewardship is Critical to Meeting Global Needs for Increased Food and Energy

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 7, 2009 - Innovations in biotechnology can help address the growing global demand for food and fiber and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Borel, told attendees of the BioJapan 2009 World Business Forum.

“Through biotechnology, we have the opportunity to transform how we produce and distribute food and how we source energy and materials,” Borel said.    » read more »

Number of Children with Food Allergies and Number of Severe Allergic Reactions Have Skyrocketed in Recent Years

October 7, 2009 -- Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he will push legislation to address the growing problem of potentially life-threatening allergic reactions in school age children. Schumer said that despite growing numbers of allergic reactions, schools lack resources to train parents, students, faculty and staff in the best way to prevent and treat these incidents. He also said that there are no federal guidelines that detail how schools can address student allergies, which has resulted in neighboring school districts, and even neighboring schools, having different policies with wildly different results.    » read more »

9/30/09 -- WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate and House conference committee approved the FY2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill including $3.376 billion for food and drug safety. The bill provides funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Under the bill, funding for these two agencies would increase $353 million over last year's level. Kohl is the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.    » read more »

Bentonville, AR – August 7, 2009 --Sam’s Club has been informed of a USDA recall of Cargill Meat Solutions Ground Beef Products.

Below is the list of recalled items that would have been purchased between the time period of June 16, 2009 through and including July 8, 2009.

* 90% GROUND BEEF COV MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021209400000
* 90% GROUND BEEF COV MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021200200000
* 90%GROUND BEEF PATTY MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021200300000
* GROUND BEEF MAXIMUM 10% FAT with a UPC of 0029200200000
* MAXIMUM 10% FAT REDUCED PRICE PATTY with a UPC of 0029200300000
* 90% GROUND BEEF MAX 10% FAT/CASE ONLY with a UPC of 0021204700000    » read more »

Applauds committee passage of bill to protect military families from being cut out of critical child and maternal nutrition programs

July 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee included legislation that would protect military families and kids from being cut out of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and child nutrition programs in its Agriculture Appropriations.    » read more »

Less Than 20% Of Consumers Trust Food They Buy Is Safe and Healthy, IBM Survey Reveals; Spotlights Consumer Attitudes on Food Products in Light of Outbreaks and Recalls

Armonk, NY -- - 24 Jun 2009 -- A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study reveals that less than 20 percent of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy for themselves and their families. The study also shows that 60 percent of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase, and 63 percent are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy.    » read more »

Highlights USDA's Summer Food Service Program That Helps Feed Hungry Kids During Summer Months

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2009 - Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan today took part in the Obama Administration's 'United We Serve' initiative by serving breakfast to kids at Morgan Day Care in Silver Spring, Md. Merrigan was joined by Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Earl "Buddy" Hance, and together they shared nutrition tips with pre-school children at the day care center.

Morgan Day Care participates in USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program and runs the Summer Food Service Program at nearby Piney Branch Elementary School.    » read more »