Food Safety
Flashback: USDA ‘Doesn’t Know’ if You Are Eating Cloned Meat
Anthony Gucciardi
NaturalSociety
NaturalSociety
It may come as a surprise, but you may be consuming cloned meat on a regular basis. In fact, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (head of the USDA) says that he has no idea whether or not cloned meat has been sold inside the United States — or even how much. But instead of investigating or setting up parameters, the USDA asserts that it is safe in their view so there is no cause for alarm. It is currently forbidden by the agency itself for any producer to distribute or sell cloned meat.The news came back in August of 2010, when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack went on record saying that he really doesn’t know whether or not cloned meat is being put on dinner tables nationwide. The announcement was made after the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency told consumers that meat from descendants of cloned animals had alreadyentered the food supply. Of course the agency made the statements a year after the cloned products leaked into the food chain. Still, just like the USDA, the UK’s FSA stated that they believe cloned meat poses no risk, so citizens should not panic. The reason? They say that cloned meat has ‘ no substantial difference’ to traditional meat, and therefore it is safe.
Hawaii Focuses on Food Safety and Local Ag
by Dan Flynn
More locally grown food and safer growing methods are the goals of a couple of bills close to passing the final hurdle in the Hawaii Legislature.
Small farmers appear split on the bills. They like House Bill 2703, which sets out to double the locally grown food supply by 2020. They have doubts about HB 1947, which would give the Hawaii Department of Agriculture the power to conduct audit and certification programs.
Both measures are waiting for a final vote in the Hawaii Senate before they will likely land on Governor Neil Abercrombie’s desk.
A sign that changes may be in the works came over the weekend when the Diamond Head Farmers Market, held on Saturdays, told farmers that in the future they’d have to be “safety certified” to have a place to sell their products. The Diamond Head is considered Oahu’s leading farmers market.
It’s run by Kapiolani Community College (KCC), which opted to get the word out early to farmers. It expects to lose only a couple of vendors.
New SE Test Kits for Eggs, Environmental Samples
by News Desk
Applied Biosystems TaqMan ® is a new Salmonella Enteritidis detection kit used on eggs that is now also able to take environmental samples at production houses involved in handling and packaging.
The kit previously received an “interim” approval for environmental sampling from the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), the unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that governs safety standards at poultry houses .
Life Technologies Corporation, the NASDAQ traded company that makes the kit, will now be able to use the method to test for SE in both eggs and poultry houses….
************************************************************************************************
Recalls
Ceramic Wine Goblets Recalled
by News Desk
An Illinois-based company is recalling ceramic wine goblets sold nationwide because they may contain more leachable lead and cadmium than federal regulations allow.
Enesco, LLC of Itasca, IL has announced a voluntary recall of 300 of its “Any Wine Will Do” wine goblets because internal product testing revealed levels of leachable lead and cadmium beyond those considered safe by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance.
Berry Cookies Recalled for Undeclared Milk
by News Desk
Biscomerica Corp. is recalling 4 types of berry cookies because they may contain milk that is not listed as an ingredient.
The California-based company is voluntarily recalling cartons of its Knott’s Berry Farm brand Boysenberry Cookies, Blueberry Cookies, Raspberry Cookies and Strawberry Cookies, citing a risk that the products may contain undeclared milk.
Vegetable Biryani Recalled for Undeclared Allergen
by News Desk
A New York-based company is voluntarily recalling packages of frozen Vegetable Biryani because they contain an undeclared nut allergen.
Rajbhong Food of Flushing, NY has issued a recall of packages of frozen, ready-to-eat Vegetable Biryani because they contain cashews – a potential allergen – that are not listed as an ingredient.
************************************************************************************************
Articles of Interest
Raw Milk: A Mother’s Story
My interest in health and nutrition began some 30 years ago. At 19 I quit smoking and for the first time in my life put on some extra pounds. (I’m sure it had something to do with the Hershey chocolate bars I consumed to ward off each and every cigarette craving.) Anyway, these extra pounds motivated my investigation of weight loss diets and I was horrified to discover that everything I’d been consuming my entire life was in essence a physiological time bomb. Processed foods are bad for you? Who could have known? And how could this be? I mean, if processed foods hurt people, why are they allowed to be sold?
Having always been an avid reader I was amazed to discover a world replete with nutritional information regarding diet and how to eat healthy. I slowly transformed my bad habits. I quit my job at a fast food restaurant and went to work in a vitamin store. Running replaced my affinity for cigarettes and my former assortment of junk food was nowhere to be found in the health food store I now regularly found myself.
Studying food labels became the rule, and I shunned any artificial flavorings, colorings, chemicals or preservatives. I juiced, ate fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, yogurt and baked chicken and fish. Raw eggs, milk and cheese also became part of my new diet after I came across encouraging literature regarding their benefits. (Raw milk is legal in California, so its purchase only required a quick trip to the health food store.)
My fervent dedication to eating well lasted for several years. When my husband entered my life, it became very difficult to maintain the purity of my diet. As time passed, I continued to eat healthier than most of my peers, but not as strict as I had for those few years in my late teens and early 20s…..
Dairy-Related Outbreaks, Illnesses, Recalls: 2010 to Present
by News Desk
In February of this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study which found that raw milk is 150 times more likely than pasteurized milk to sicken those who drink it. The study took into account all dairy-related outbreaks between 1993 and 2006.
Since that time, a number of outbreaks linked to dairy products have occurred, expanding the data set on dairy outbreaks beyond what the CDC was able to take into account.
The following line list was compiled by Real Raw Milk Facts through searches for government and dairy industry press releases, reports and newsletters announcing dairy-related outbreaks and recalls.
The data precede official statistics from the CDC, which have an approximately 2-year time lag before being available to the public.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
