Hot subject this week: Mad Cow Disease in the U.S.
April 24, 2012:
Case of Mad Cow Disease Is Found in U.S.
Stephanie Strom
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/health/case-of-mad-cow-disease-is-found-in-us.html?_r=1
Mad Cow Disease Confirmed in California Dairy Cow, USDA Says
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/mad-cow-disease-california-usda_n_1449871.html?ref=food
Mad Cow Disease Found in California: What Are the Risks to Humans?
Amanda Chan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/mad-cow-disease-variant-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease_n_1450195.html?ref=food&ir=Food
April 25, 2012:
Mad Cow Disease Discovery In California Was Stroke of Luck
Tracie Cone and Gosia Wozniacka (AP)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/mad-cow-disease-discovery_n_1451645.html?ref=food
South Korea Retailers Halt US Beef Sales Over Mad Cow
Youkyung Lee (AP)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/south-korea-mad-cow-beef_n_1451735.html?ref=food
USDA Confirms Mad Cow Disease in CA Dairy Cow
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2012/04/usda-confirms-mad-cow-disease-found-in-ca-dairy-c.aspx
April 26, 2012:
Mad Cow Disease Case Won’t Impact Processors—American Meat Institute
Mark Astley
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Mad-cow-disease-case-won-t-impact-processors-American-Meat-Institute/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=vlyaQkNPK91TSzU8Q%2BVEeBVeJQMKE0MC
April 27, 2012:
Mad Cow Disease: Holstein with BSE Was Euthanized after Going Lame
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/holstein-mad-cow-disease_n_1458550.html?ref=food
The US Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that it had identified a case of mad cow disease in a dairy cow in central California. The cow “was never presented for human consumption, so it at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health,” John Clifford, chief veterinary officer at the USDA, said in a statement. Dr. Clifford also noted that milk does not transmit BSE. The New York Times reported that the animal had been picked up from the farm and taken to a rendering plant, which noticed some of the signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and notified USDA inspectors, Dr. Clifford said in a brief interview. A conflicting report by writers for AP said that the cow had died at one of the region’s hundreds of dairies, but hadn’t exhibited outward symptoms of the disease. But when the animal arrived at the facility with a truckload of other dead cows on April 18, its 30-month-plus age (10 years, 7 months) and fresh corpse made her eligible for USDA testing. “We randomly pick a number of samples throughout the year, and this just happened to be one that we randomly sampled,” Baker Commodities executive vice president Dennis Luckey said. “It showed no signs” of disease. An updated report on HuffingtonPost.com on April 27, said that the California dairy cow found to have mad cow disease had been euthanized at the Dairy after it became lame and started lying down, federal officials revealed in their latest update on the discovery. The samples went to the food safety lab at the University of California on April 18. By April 19, markers indicated the cow could have BSE. It was sent to the USDA lab in Iowa for further testing. On Tuesday, federal agriculture officials announced the findings: the animal had atypical BSE. That means it didn’t get the disease from eating infected cattle feed, said John Clifford, the Agriculture Department’s chief veterinary officer. Atypical BSE cannot be transmitted by contact among cows, and experts say it’s unclear whether this rare type of BSE ever has been transmitted from a cow to a human by eating meat. According to Dr. Clifford the Agriculture Department is sharing its lab results with international animal health officials in Canada and England who will review the test results. Federal and California officials will further investigate the case. State and federal agriculture officials plan to test other cows that lived in the same feeding herd as he infected bovine, said Michael Marsh, chief executive of Western United Dairymen, who was briefed on the plan. They also plan to test cows born at around the same time the diseased cow was. According to the Wall Street Journal, US cattle futures plummeted to a 10-month low after USDA confirmed the case of mad cow disease. June contracts fell to the lowest point since the contract began trading. Major export markets for US beef, including Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Canada and the European Union (EU), have promised to continue to import the product. However, two South Korean retailers have stopped sales of US beef and Indonesia has temporarily suspended shipments. South Korea’s No. 2 and No. 3 supermarket chains, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, said they halted sales of US beef to calm worries among South Koreans. Within hours Home Plus had resumed sales and cited a government announcement of increased inspections. Lotte kept is suspension in place. South Korea imports US beef from cows less than 30 months old. Japan, the world’s third-largest consumer of US beef and veal, restricts its imports of US beef to cows of 20 months or younger. But the latest mad cow case may jeopardize moves to expand American beef sales in Taiwan, where the government recently sparked protests by allowing sales of US beef containing ractopamine, a growth additive. There was no immediate response from China’s government. Beijing no longer has an outright ban on US beef but exporters have been unable to overcome continued barriers involving inspection of the meat. According to the CDC in 2011 there were only 29 worldwide cases of BSE, a dramatic decline and 99% reduction since the peak in 1992 of 37,311. Prior to the most recent discovery, there have been three confirmed cases of BSE in cows in the US—in a Canadian-born cow in 2003 in Washington state, in 2005 in Texas and in 2006 in Alabama. Both the 2005 and 2006 cases were also atypical varieties of the disease, USDA officials said. The mad cow cases that plagued England in the early 1990s were caused when livestock routinely were fed protein supplements that included ground cow spinal columns and brain tissue, which can harbor the disease.
Whole Foods Seafood Ban: Unsustainable Fish No Longer Sold Include Skate and Atlantic Cods
Rachel Tepper
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/whole-foods-seafood-ban-sustainable-fish_n_1446071.html?ref=topbar
April 23, 2012
A Ban on Some Seafood Has Fishermen Fuming
Abby Goodnough
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/to-new-england-fishermen-another-bothersome-barrier.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120422
April 21, 2012
As of Earth Day 2012, the organic and natural food superstore Whole Foods no longer carries fish considered unsustainable. The sustainable seafood rating systems used by Whole Foods were devised by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and Blue Ocean Institute. The ratings are based on how abundant a species is, how quickly it reproduces and whether the catch method damages its habitat. Whole Foods has already stopped selling orange roughy, shark, Bluefin tuna and most marlin. Starting Sunday, gray sole and skate, common catches in the Gloucester and other New England ports, will no longer appear in the grocery chain’s artfully arranged fish cases. Atlantic cod, another New England staple, will be sold only if it is not caught by trawlers, which drag nets across the ocean floor, a much-used method. The company had originally planned to stop selling “red-rated” fish next year but moved up its deadline. The other fish it will no longer carry are Atlantic halibut, octopus, sturgeon, tautog, turbot, imported wild shrimp, some species of rockfish, and tuna and swordfish caught in certain areas or by certain methods. Although the new policy will affect fishermen nationwide, the reaction from Gloucester and other New England ports may be the unhappiest. New England has more overfished stocks than any other region, according to federal monitors, and its fishing industry has bridled—and struggled to survive—under strict regulations. Some question the need for grocery stores to reject certain American-caught fish when the government has already imposed its own conservation measures. Many of the nation’s fishermen now operate under federally created systems that allocate a yearly quota of fish. And for some stocks, the quotas are being reduced; fishermen are facing a 22 percent cut in the amount of Gulf of Maine cod they can catch. In New England, some areas are closed to fishing for part or all of the year; in others, only certain kinds of gear can be used. “We have the strictest management regime in the world,” said David Goethel, a fisherman from Hampton, NH and a member of the New England Fishery Management Council. “So using the word ‘sustainable,’ maybe it looks good in your advertising. But, without being too harsh, it means absolutely nothing.” But Ellen Pikitch, director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, said “Whole Foods is setting a good example by offering fish from relatively well-managed fisheries. It’s too bad that more New England fish don’t qualify, but over time, such market forces should help bring these fish back—both in the ocean and to the Whole Foods seafood counter.” Other chains are making similar moves. But in Gloucester, anyway, some fishermen are taking the Whole Foods decision more personally.
Would You Like a Bad Farm Bill—Or a Terrible One
Twilight Greenaway
http://grist.org/farm-bill/would-you-like-a-bad-farm-bill-or-a-terrible-one/
April 23, 2012
Senate Panel Approves Five-Year Farm Bill
Erik Wasson
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/224057-senate-panel-approves-farm-bill-
April 26, 2012
The Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday approved a new five-year farm bill over the objections of Southern senators in a 60 to 5 final vote. Four Southern Senators voted against it supporting the rice and peanut lobbies who strongly oppose the farm subsidy changes in the bill arguing that it leaves their producers without a safety net. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) voted against the bill expressing concerns about cuts to food stamp funding in the legislation. Overall the bill cuts $24.7 billion in funding over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It eliminates traditional direct payment farm subsidies and creates new crop insurance plans to reduce risk to farmers. Democratic aides say Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has committed to bringing the farm bill to the floor even if House leaders stall on it. It’s nothing compared to what the Republican-led House of Representatives is cooking up. (Both sides of the bipartisan Ag Committee are supposed to start working toward a consensus during a mark-up session on April 25-26.) The House’s version of the bill would cut $180 billion from farm bill programs over the next decade. According to the Associated Press, that would include a whopping “$134 billion, or an average $13.4 billion a year, from the food stamp program.” The current bill expires in September, and a final draft must be put in motion by Memorial Day if we’re going to get any bill this year at all. These proposed food stamps cuts may just be a way for the GOP to stall or slow down the process. But if SNAP cuts like this did go through, the impact would be huge: One in six Americans—50 million people—now rely on food stamps. The GOP’s proposed cuts may make the Senate farm bill draft appear moderate by comparison, but both are a far cry from any of the hopeful versions released by Good Food Movement organizations. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), perhaps the closest thing the Good Food Movement has to a lobby, is putting muscle behind two small marker bills that could add some small bright spots to the final 2012 Farm Bill: the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act and our Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act.
US Asparagus Industry, Crushed by Imports, Sees Signs for Strong Year
Shannon Dininny
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/us-asparagus-industry_n_1448375.html?ref=food
April 24, 2012
PASCO, Wash.—Asparagus farmers, crushed for decades by a flood of South American imports, have begun to expand production again in the hope that healthy eating trends and demand for homegrown vegetables will help bolster prices and sales of their stalks. US asparagus production is still only a third of what it was 25 years ago, thanks in part to a pair of federal policies meant to combat drug trafficking and improve economic trade. A 1991 law exempted some crops, including asparagus, from tariffs to help Andean countries expand their alternatives to drug crops. Three years later, the North American Free Trade Agreement gradually reduced taxes on asparagus, boosting shipments from Mexico. For an industry on the verge of disappearing, 2010 marked a rock-bottom year, said Alan Schreiber of the Washington Asparagus Commission. But in the past two years, he said, asparagus growers have halted promotions early because demand for fresh asparagus has been so high that it’s all been sold. To meet that demand, Washington farmers planted more new asparagus fields this year than the state has seen in a decade. Growers in California are replacing old plants with new ones but don’t expect to add a lot of acres. Some in the industry credit Americans’ efforts to eat healthier with the increased demand for asparagus. Others say a price drop caused by a bumper crop in Mexico this winter enticed more people to buy fresh asparagus. Gary Larsen, a grower near Pasco, Washington, believes the key to the future is in new varieties that allow farmers to grow more on the same amount of land. But he’s also not convinced the industry is turning around just yet.
Citrus May Be Key to Drinking Water Purification
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2012/04/cirtus-may-be-key-to-drinking-water-purification.aspx
April 18, 2012
BALTIMORE—Water-related disease is a serious concern globally as many countries struggle to access clean drinking water; however, new research published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene suggests the humble lime may provide an inexpensive and quick method to purifying water. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered adding lime juice to water treated with a solar disinfection method removes detectable levels of harmful bacteria such as E. coli significantly faster than solar disinfection alone. One method of using sunlight to disinfect water that is recommended by UNICEF is known as Solar water Disinfection (SODIS), which requires filling 1 or 2 L polyethylene terephthalate (PET plastic) bottles with water and then exposing them to sunlight for at least 6 hours. In cloudy weather, longer exposure times of up to 48 hours may be necessary to achieve adequate disinfection. The preliminary results of the Johns Hopkins study show solar disinfection of water combined with citrus could be effective at greatly reducing E. coli levels in just 30 minutes. In addition, the 30 milliliters of juice per 2 liters of water would not be prohibitively expensive or create an unpleasant flavor.
Farmers’ Marketing. Look Closely. That Box of Produce May Not Be So Local
Salma Abdelnour
Time Magazine
April 16, 2012
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) started as a way to get communities to support local agriculture by asking consumers to pay a few hundred dollars up front for a season’s worth of produce. As the number of CSAs has increased from two New England farms in 1986 to an estimated 6,000 today, the emphasis has been on local produce—which, in addition to growing the local economy, helps reduce the environmental costs of shipping food long distances from industrial suppliers to stores. But as companies try to capitalize on the trend of farm shares, the movement risks coming—one might say—full circle. Some enterprising chain supermarkets are selling produce from their local suppliers in CSA-style boxes, skimming off a margin of the farmers’ sales along the way. Based in Carnation, Washington, Full Circle initially marketed itself as a CSA. But as the company expanded—it now delivers food from about 200 farms on the West Coast and Mexico to more than 18,000 customers in four states—critics balked: How can you ship California peaches to Alaska and still call yourself a CSA? So the company relabeled itself as a “farm-to-table organic delivery service.” California’s Farm Fresh to You and New York’s Urban Organic likewise traded the local farm share’s direct-to-customer model for a network of farms and doorstep delivery. That kind of convenience has undeniable appeal. With traditional farm shares, customers have to show up at a certain and place every week to get their produce, often from the farmers themselves. Even though for-profit companies like Full Circle see themselves as partners of CSAs, they also make it tempting not to shop directly from local farms. That’s why nonprofits like Farm Fresh Rhode Island—a group that unites the state’s farmers’ markets—are responding by boxing up produce, free of charge to the growers, and delivering it to customers who don’t have the time (or the transportation) to get to pickup sties. They also offer boxes that combine produce from local farms that sell at certain farmers’ markets, and all the revenue goes straight to participating farmers. For people committed to eating local without making the sacrifices farm shares usually entail, it’s getting easier to have your local kale and eat it too.
Monthly Foodie Market Goes Weekly
Atlanta Magazine
May 2012
Last year Michaela Graham moved from San Francisco back to Atlanta, where she previously lived for nearly two decades. She decided on a professional makeover: foodie entrepreneur. In February 2011 Graham founded the Atlanta Underground Market, a roving monthly pop-up event that featured more than forty vendors serving dishes as disparate as Filipino chicken adobo, collard green spring rolls, and gingered carrot cupcakes. The first event held at Sweet Auburn Curb Market attracted more than a thousand attendees, and the numbers stayed steady over a year’s run. Graham staged the final Market gathering in March so she could concentrate on a more ambitious project. Last month she launched the Atlanta Nosh, an event held every Sunday at the far north end of Atlantic Station. More than 100 vendors (mostly caterers, private chefs, and entrepreneurial home cooks) serve a global lineup of specialties, but the array also now includes prepared foods such as jellies, salsas, and mac and cheese packed to take home. Graham orchestrated a panel of judges, pulled from past Market attendees, to select the culinary mix.
Chestnut Tree Huggers
Sharon Shapiro
Atlanta Magazine
May 2012
Two of Georgia’s most famous farmers—former President Jimmy Carter and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who has a 2,000-acre tree farm in middle Georgia—have become spokespersons for the American Chestnut Foundation. Since the early 1900s, an Asian fungus has virtually eliminated 200 million acres of American chestnut trees that once ran from Maine to Florida. Blight-resistant seeds have been created by cross breeding American saplings with disease-resistant Chinese chestnuts—retaining most characteristics of the native species. Restoration chestnuts have been planted in at least forty Georgia orchards. Carter and Leavell have both planted seeds, which appear to be thriving.
Cheap Shrimp, Funded by Human Trafficking and Environmental Destruction
Sara Parsons
http://www.good.is/post/cheap-shrimp-funded-by-human-trafficking-and-environmental-destruction/
April 24, 2012
Forget cheeseburgers and French fries—the new American meal of choice is shrimp. American shrimp consumption has increased by more than 300 percent since 1980. Most shrimp consumed in the US doesn’t come from American waters. About 90% of it originates at farms in Thailand, Vietnam, South America, and China. Using aquaculture to mass-produce the crustaceans has dropped prices to all-time lows, but increasing evidence suggests that the savings to consumers are fueled by human rights abuses and environmental disasters at shrimp farms. Major seafood suppliers have been accused of engaging in “debt bondage,” a form of human trafficking in which an employer keeps a percentage of employees’ pay to cover expenses incurred by bringing migrant workers to other countries and illegally confiscating passports from 2,000 migrant workers. Many workers receive only half the pay and wages they were promised, and were not provided with lodging or transportation. In many regions of the world shrimp farmers cut down and remove mangroves in order to construct shrimp ponds. About 70% of the world’s mangrove forests have disappeared in the last 40 years, due in part to the rise of shrimp aquaculture. Shrimp farmers regularly feed their crustaceans fishmeal made from ground-up fish, a practice that depletes ocean ecosystems of fish stocks. It takes about three pounds of fish protein to make one pound of shrimp—a ratio that does not add up to a sustainable food source. Many shrimp farmers regularly treat their produce with antibiotics and other chemicals in order to prevent infections and disease. Some shrimp aquaculture operations are taking steps to go greener by cutting back on wild fish feed and using organic feed. Organizations like the UCFW are making strides toward exposing human rights abuses. But make no mistake: Shrimp farming has a long way to go to become ethical and sustainable. Consumers can avoid unsustainable shrimp by purchasing the wild stuff with a higher price tag.
Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market Grand Opening
http://clatl.com/gyrobase/atlanta-food-truck-park-and-market-grand-opening/Event?oid=5219394&mode=print
April 26, 2012
The Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market, 1950 Howell Mill Road, kicks off with a grand-opening event on Thursday, April 26, at 5 p.m. with a variety of entertainment including the city’s best food trucks, live music, bocce ball, cornhole, a kid’s fun zone and more. Atlanta’s first seven-day-a-week food truck park will be home to food trucks serving breakfast lunch dinner and late night; weekly live entertainment; and a weekend farmers’ market.
FDA NEWS RELEASE
FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Nanotechnology
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm301125.htm#.T5lJUqzwT3k.email
April 20, 2012
Nanotechnology in Food: FDA Proposes Rules for Monitoring Food Safety
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/21/nanotechnology-food-fda_n_1441197.html?ref=food&ir=Food
April 20, 2012
Two draft guidance documents that address the use of nanotechnology by the food and cosmetics industries were issued today by the US FDA. Nanotechnology is an evolving technology that allows scientists to create explore, and manipulate materials on a scale measured in nanometers—particles so small that they can not be seen with a regular microscope. The technology has a broad range of potential applications, such as the packaging of food or altering the look and feel of cosmetics. Regulators are proposing that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles in their packaging may have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe. FDA has previously stated its position that nanotechnology is not inherently unsafe; however, materials at the nano scale can pose different safety issues than do things that are far larger. Both guidances encourage manufacturers to consult with the agency before taking their products to market.
Today in Food Finance: Nutella Is Not Broccoli
Rebecca Stropoli
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/today-food-finance-nutella-not-broccoli-162956191.html
April 27, 2012
Nutella Lawsuit: Ferrero Settles Class-Action Suit Over Health Claims for $3 Million
Rachel Tepper
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/nutella-lawsuit_n_1457183.html?ref=food
April 26, 2012
Ferrero, the manufacturer of the chocolate-hazelnut spread, Nutella, has agreed to a $3 million settlement in a lawsuit calling foul on the product’s purported health benefits. Athena Hohenberg, a San Diego mom who believed that Nutella was a great dietary choice for her four-year-old daughter, filed the lawsuit in February 2011. Hohenberg claimed the company’s advertising—particularly giving TV-ad viewers the idea that Nutella was part of a nutritious breakfast—led to her erroneous perception. When she realized the spread is about as healthy as your average Snickers bar, she decided it was time to get even—and get cash. About $2.5 million of the $3 million will be spread out among class-action claimants. Ferrero will also have to change its marketing and labeling to clear up any possible misconceptions about the health benefits of its product.