News
Calorie Labeling Could Lead To Healthier Fast Food
March 31, 2010 6:03 am | Comments(AP) — Will a national requirement for chain restaurants to post calorie counts sound the death knell for bacon cheeseburgers and double chocolate doughnuts? The calorie-posting mandate, signed into law by President Barack Obama as part of the health care overhaul, assumes diners will feel the culinary equivalent of sticker shock when confronted with calorie counts for greasy, sugary and fatty foods.
Wis. Committee Approves Raw Milk Bill
March 31, 2010 6:00 am | CommentsMADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin dairy farmers could legally sell raw, unpasteurized milk directly to consumers despite potential health risks under a bill an Assembly committee approved Tuesday. The move clears the way for a vote in the full Assembly. An identical bill is ready for a vote before the full Senate as well, but time is running out.
Chiquita, Danone Pair Up On Fruit Drinks In Europe
March 31, 2010 5:57 am | CommentsCINCINNATI (AP) — Chiquita Brands International Inc. and Groupe Danone SA are pairing up to market beverages based on Chiquita's Just Fruit In a Bottle line in Europe. The joint venture announced Tuesday calls for the two companies to be financial and operational partners. Danone will manage the operation, which will have its headquarters in Paris.
Vilsack Faces Difficulty Reopening Japan's Beef Market
March 31, 2010 5:48 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (Kyodo News International) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday acknowledged the difficulty in convincing Japan to fully reopen its beef market to imports from the United States. "I have no illusions how easy this is going to be. It's obviously going to be difficult," he told a press briefing ahead of his trip to Japan next week.
SunChips Introduces First Compostable Chip Bag
March 31, 2010 5:45 am | CommentsPLANO, Texas (PRNewswire) — On the eve of Earth Month, the SunChips brand today officially introduces the world's first 100 percent compostable chip bag at an event in Los Angeles, along with details about a new national consumer education effort to encourage composting and greener lifestyles.
America's Egg Farmers Lend Helping Hand To Local Communities
March 30, 2010 4:53 am | CommentsALPHARETTA, GA (PRNewswire) — America's egg farmers are lending a helping hand to their local communities this Easter by teaming up with Feeding America to donate 12 million eggs to food banks across the country. The eggs donations will span approximately 90 cities in 33 states leading up to Easter on April 4.
Hormel Foods Opens New Production Site
March 30, 2010 4:50 am | CommentsAUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — Food processor Hormel Foods Corp. is opening a new plant in Dubuque, Iowa, on Wednesday, the first new production facility the company has built in more than 25 years. The 348,000-square-foot, $89 million plant employs about 90 people and could employ up to 300 at maximum capacity.
Tainted Milk Activist Goes On Trial In China
March 30, 2010 4:48 am | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — A man who organized a support group for parents of children sickened in one of China's worst food safety scandals pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of inciting social disorder, his lawyer said. Zhao Lianhai was behind a push for greater accountability and compensation for the victims and their families of the 2008 scandal that shocked China.
Foes Of Proposed Bottling Plant Hand In Petitions
March 30, 2010 4:45 am | CommentsCASCADE LOCKS, Ore. (AP) — Foes of a proposed Nestle Waters North America bottling plant in Cascade Locks, Ore., on Monday handed state wildlife officials petitions bearing 3,700 signatures of people against the project. Nestle's plan is to tap a nearby spring that supplies an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery.
U.S. Investigator Hears NY Milk Price Complaints
March 30, 2010 4:43 am | CommentsBATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) — The nation's top federal antitrust investigator on Monday assured desperate dairy farmers that the government also wants to know why they are being paid so little for milk when the price shoppers pay in stores is holding steady. At the invitation of U.S. Sen.
Sanderson Farms Planning Expansion
March 30, 2010 4:41 am | CommentsLAUREL, Miss. (AP) — Sanderson Farms Inc. says it plans to possibly locate a new $94 million poultry complex near Goldsboro, N.C. that would employ about 1,100 people. The Laurel, Miss.-based company said Monday the plan is contingent on state and local economic incentives, obtaining property and permits and approval of Sanderson Farm lenders of a change to its revolving credit agreement.
Moth Forces Wine Country's Secret Into The Open
March 29, 2010 5:23 am | CommentsFRESNO, Calif. (AP) — One of the dirty secrets of California's wine country is now on everyone's lips. Somehow a voracious grape-eating moth has found its way nonstop from Europe to the heart of the Napa Valley, the land of three-figure cabernet. With valuable fruit at risk, the region's fast and loose play with federal agriculture quarantine laws is getting new scrutiny from investigators and researchers.
Farmers Face Off With Chemical Maker Over Rice
March 29, 2010 5:21 am | CommentsLONOKE, Ark. (AP) — Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium set out nearly 20 years ago to do what seemed like a good thing for farmers — create a strain of rice that could withstand a popular herbicide that kills weeds in the fields. The scientists were so successful that Bayer CropScience, part of the German chemical giant that makes and markets the Liberty herbicide, eventually bought the company that the university scientists formed.
Salmon Farmers Respond To Criticism
March 29, 2010 5:20 am | CommentsCampbell River, BC (BCFSA) — Sometimes complex issues get further confused when only partial information is shared and the full picture is left unclear. Such is the case with Mr. Baker’s story about BC’s salmon farming industry. The story takes quotations out of press releases from both the BC Salmon Farmers Association and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans which focus on economic news pertaining to the industry, and pits them against comments from critics about environmental and regulatory issues.
Chinese Investors Eye New Zealand's Dairy Sector
March 26, 2010 5:34 am | CommentsWELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A Hong Kong-based investment group says it wants to invest up to $1.1 billion in New Zealand's dairy industry to make high-quality infant formula and long-life milk products for the Chinese market. The move comes two years after China's 2008 tainted milk scandal that left six children dead and more than 300,000 sickened when dairy suppliers added the industrial chemical melamine to milk to boost its apparent protein content.
China Becomes Last Nation To Lift Ban On U.S. Pork
March 26, 2010 5:32 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nearly a year after nations banned U.S. pork over fears about swine flu, China has become the last one to lift its embargo and is expected to accept shipments by early next month. It's a move welcomed by an industry that has suffered several years of losses, but some experts caution farmers shouldn't expect to see a surge in exports.
U.S. To Ban Wild-Harvest Shrimp Imports From Mexico
March 26, 2010 5:31 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Mexico is losing its certification to export wild-harvest shrimp to the United States because its trawls lack required protections for endangered sea turtles, the State Department said. The department said the certification was withdrawn after the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service determined that Mexico's turtle excluder devices no longer meet U.
