News
Maine Law To Allow For More Lobster Processing
April 19, 2010 4:34 am | CommentsPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — As popular as Maine lobster is, fans of the delicacy might be surprised at how limited their options are. That's going to change come July 1. Tens of millions of pounds of Maine-caught lobster are shipped each year to Canada, where they are turned into value-added products that can be processed there — but not in Maine.
Salmon Decision Reinvigorates Fishermen
April 19, 2010 4:32 am | CommentsNEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — Dean Fleck put in an urgent phone call to his purchasing agent on Thursday. The manager of the Newport branch of Englund Marine Supply was fresh out of two different sizes of troll wire, a critical piece of gear for the Chinook salmon fleet, which is back in business for the first time in three years.
Congressional Bill To Create Dairy Growth Plan
April 19, 2010 4:30 am | CommentsFAIRFAX, Vt. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., plans to unveil a bill he's introducing that would create a growth management program for the U.S. dairy industry. In an appearance Friday at a Fairfax dairy farm, the Democratic representative heard dairy farmers on the topic of price volatility.
FDA Helps Producers Comply With Rules For Shell Eggs
April 19, 2010 4:28 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (FDA) — On April 13, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published guidance for small egg producers to help them comply with a 2009 federal egg safety regulation designed to prevent Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs during production, transportation, and storage. Entitled “Guidance for Industry: Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Transportation, and Storage - Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG),” the new guidance is intended to set forth, in plain language, the requirements of the 2009 egg safety regulation in order to help small businesses comply with that regulation.
County Lending $100K To NY-Based Meat Company
April 16, 2010 6:15 am | CommentsGIBBON, Neb. (AP) — A Buffalo County loan will help a New York-based meat company hire some employees to get the former Turkey Growers Cooperative plant back in operation. The county Economic Development Council will lend Midwest Meat Packing $100,000. The six-month, no-interest loan was approved Tuesday by county supervisors.
Illegal Whale Meat Surfacing At Sushi Bars
April 16, 2010 6:13 am | CommentsGRANTS PASS, Oregon (AP) — A study released Wednesday offers evidence that whale meat from Japan is illegally being served at sushi restaurants elsewhere, including one in South Korea last year. Scientists from Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport performed DNA tests on whale as part of a project monitoring sources of whale meat offered for sale since 1993.
What's That Smell? Hog Manure Becomes Asphalt
April 16, 2010 6:11 am | CommentsEUREKA, Mo. (AP) — The outer road along Interstate 44 near Six Flags St. Louis is freshly paved — with asphalt made from recycled swine manure. It is believed to be the first time asphalt has been created from swine manure. Two St. Louis County companies, road contractor Pace Construction Co.
CDC Confirms New Strain Of Norovirus
April 16, 2010 6:01 am | CommentsBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that recently tested samples submitted by state health officials contain a new strain of norovirus. The CDC reports the new strain, like other norovirus strains, is transmitted person to person, and has been confirmed nationwide for about 50 percent of recent outbreaks.
U.S.'s Biggest Brews
April 16, 2010 6:00 am | CommentsBoulder, CO (Brewers Association) —The Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group that tabulates production statistics for U.S. breweries, released its annual lists reporting the top 50 brewing companies in the country, based on 2009 beer sales volume. The Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies list contains 76 percent craft brewing companies.
Bayer Ordered To Pay U.S. Rice Farmers $48M
April 16, 2010 5:59 am | CommentsLITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — German conglomerate Bayer CropScience should pay a dozen Arkansas farmers nearly $50 million for allowing a genetically altered strain of rice to escape into the commercial market, damaging rice prices in 2006, a jury ruled Thursday. An attorney for the farmers, Scott Powell, said the jury decided on the judgment after less than two hours of deliberations Thursday afternoon.
Reid Supply Adds 8,000 Packaging, Shipping Products
April 14, 2010 5:17 am | CommentsMUSKEGON, MI (Reid Supply) — Reid Supply Company, a Michigan-based global distributor of industrial supplies, announced the launch of more than 8,000 packaging and shipping products to its tens-of-thousands of industrial products inventory. It was a commonsense decision to offer our customers packaging and shipping supplies ,” says Greg Palmer, Director of Marketing at Reid Supply.
Sponsor Drops Roethlisberger From Beef Jerky
April 14, 2010 5:16 am | CommentsPITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh company that markets food products endorsed by local sports stars has ended its beef jerky sponsorship deal with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. PLB Sports president Ty Ballou says Roethlisberger is "falling short" of the company's standards after a Georgia prosecutor announced Monday he will not prosecute the quarterback over sexual assault allegations.
Meat, Poultry Industries Await New Antitrust Rules
April 14, 2010 5:15 am | CommentsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal regulators are set to release the most sweeping antitrust rules covering the meat industry in decades, potentially altering the balance of power between meat companies and the farmers who raise their animals. Activists, farmers and meat industry officials have been anxiously awaiting the new rules, which will be released this spring for public comment and are set to take effect this summer.
Canada's Grocers Stocking Shelves With Green Fish
April 14, 2010 5:14 am | CommentsMONTREAL (Canadian Press) — A dramatic shift is taking place in the fish aisle of Canadian supermarkets as a growing number of retailers are opting to only sell sustainably sourced seafood. A decade after they were first introduced, eco-friendly certified fish are expected to be the only fish on the menu for the country's large food retailers by 2013.
General Mills To Cut Sodium In Some Products
April 14, 2010 5:12 am | CommentsPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — General Mills Inc. says it will cut the amount of sodium by 20 percent in a number of its cereals, soups, snacks and other products by 2015. General Mills, which makes foods such as Cheerios cereal and Progresso soup, is the latest of several major food makers to reduce the salt in its foods as regulators and consumers push for healthier products.
Slaughterhouse Regains Footing After Immigration Raid
April 14, 2010 5:11 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Postville kosher slaughterhouse that went bankrupt after a federal immigration raid nearly two years ago is growing and on target to return to earlier production levels, its new owner said Tuesday. Hershey Friedman, the owner of Agri Star Meat and Poultry, said at a Statehouse news conference that the company had put its troubled past behind it.
Beverage Manufacturer Agrees To Pay Back Wages
April 13, 2010 5:28 am | CommentsKENNER, La. (AP) — A Louisiana food and drink manufacturer has paid more than $46,000 in overtime and back wages to 35 workers to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor. An investigation by the department's wage and hour division found that Kiko Foods Inc. was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for failing to pay production employees their wages for work performed from Jan.
Internal Memo Turned Over In Egg-Price Fixing Lawsuit
April 13, 2010 5:27 am | CommentsFRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A lawsuit alleging the U.S. egg industry conspired to increase consumer prices got a boost recently when a defendant turned over documents and internal memos that show an industry group called for egg producers to slow production. The lawsuit alleges that as egg prices climbed between 2004 and 2008, industry officials who blamed rising feed costs were covering up an orchestrated hen kill-off to reduce supplies.
ConAgra Acquires Elan Nutrition
April 13, 2010 5:25 am | CommentsOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra Foods Inc. has bought privately held snack and nutrition bar maker Elan Nutrition to boost its private label business. Terms of the deal, which closed Monday, were not disclosed. Elan Nutrition, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., had been owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc.
Firefighter Killed In NY Farm Explosion
April 13, 2010 5:24 am | CommentsHOUNSFIELD, N.Y. (AP) — A fire in an animal-feed silo triggered an explosion that killed a firefighter at a farm in northern New York where, just three days earlier, a barn blaze killed more than 100 cows. Authorities say they believe the barn fire Thursday night at North Harbor Dairy Farm in the town of Hounsfield, 60 miles north of Syracuse, might have kindled the explosion at the nearby steel silo Sunday.
