News on U.S. Department of Agriculture

Report: USDA lax in policing organics marketing

2010-03-19T19:00:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Gov't Report: Agriculture Department lax in penalizing those who falsely market organics</div><div><p>The Agriculture Department has failed to enforce penalties against some who falsely marketed foods as organic, according to an internal department investigation.</p><p>A report by the agency's inspector general says the agency needs to step up enforcement of those who sell products under the "Unilever spent $40,000 lobbying government in 4Q on sugar policy, foreign trade</div><div><p>The U.S. unit of Unilever, maker of Dove soap, Skippy peanut butter and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, spe...

Foodmakers support more control of school food

2010-03-18T16:45:09Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four major food and beverage makers announced support on Thursday for legislation expanding U.S. control over snacks sold at schools and allowing the government to ban junk food from campuses.</p><p>It would be the first crack down on school snacks in three decades but the compromise stops short of proposals, made in th...

Research monkey deaths prompt calls for crackdown

2010-03-18T01:00:35Z

<div id="subtitle">Deaths of research monkeys prompt calls for government crackdown</div><div><p>Workers at a Nevada research lab were checking on a primate room when they came across a ghastly sight: Thirty dead monkeys were essentially cooked alive after someone left the heater on. Two others were near death and had to be euthanized.</p><p>At a lab run by the same company, a monkey died last year after it was sent ...

Delauro sees U.S. food safety law in 2010

2010-03-17T14:45:52Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress will pass a new law to overhaul the antiquated U.S. food safety system by the end of the year, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, an influential House lawmaker, said on Wednesday.</p><p>The first major reform of the system in 50 years could be followed by another close look at how meat and poultry are inspected, and the cha...

Pesky moth will remain on US quarantine list

2010-03-17T08:31:12Z

<div id="subtitle">USDA keeps light brown apple moth on quarantine list despite protests danger is overstated</div><div><p>A federal agriculture report says the light brown apple moth will continue to be regulated as a quarantine pest, despite arguments its danger is overstated.</p><p>The moth, which is common in New Zea...

Judge allows genetically engineered beet harvest

2010-03-16T17:45:27Z

<div id="subtitle">Calif. judge allows genetically engineered beet harvest; amounts to half nation's sugar supply</div><div><p>A federal judge on Tuesday said farmers can harvest their genetically engineered sugar beets this year, ruling the economic impact too great and that environmental groups waited too long to request that the crop be yanked from the ground and otherwise barred from the market.</p><p>Nea...

Anheuser-Busch spent $690K lobbying gov't in 4Q

2010-03-15T06:15:13Z

<div id="subtitle">Anheuser-Busch spent $690,000 in fourth quarter lobbying goverment on taxes, food safety</div><div><p>Anheuser-Busch, the U.S. unit of ABInbev, spent $690,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby the government on excise taxes, food safety and matters relating to the alcohol industry, according to a recent disclos...

Use the Pyramid to Get Healthy

2010-03-13T14:33:31Z

You keep reading and hearing about eating healthier and getting regular exercise to improve your health but you don?t know where to go to get started. Instead of buying the latest diet book or investing in exercise equipment or a health club membership why don?t you consider a free alternative? Free is good. So where do you go for this free information and tools to get you started?<br><br>The the euro have eased. It's down nearly 4 percent in less than two weeks.</p><p>OIL DOES TOO: Oil and other energy contracts fell after mixed economic reports had investors unsure about future demand.</p><p>GRAI...

Food and Farm Animal Welfare

2010-03-12T00:33:15Z

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2008, file photo, a worker throws a piece of meat among cattle carcass scraps dropped into a truck at the Hallmark Meat Packing slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif. In May 2008, the Agriculture Department banned the slaughter of cows too sick or ...

Lawmakers probe lax enforcement of animal rules

2010-03-12T00:30:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Lawmakers, GAO probe lax enforcement of animal welfare rules following slaughterhouse abuse</div><div><p>The knives at the slaughterhouse weren't properly sanitized, a government investigator said, and employees at the meatpacking plant didn't know how to test the carcasses of days-old veal calves for a dangerous pathogen. Food safety conditions were so poor at the Vermont processing facility that it should ...

Eating Healthy For Living Healthy

2010-03-10T09:20:41Z

?The health of people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their power as a state depend."<br>Benjamin Disraeli (England Jewish Prime Minister, 1804-1881)<br><br>Nutrition is essential for a healthy sustenance of human life. Eating healthy encompasses foods that provide nutrients to maintain a robust lifestyle. These nutrien...

Summary Box: Grains fall ahead of USDA crop report

2010-03-09T12:47:44Z

<div id="subtitle">Summary Box: Grain prices drop a day ahead of the Department of Agriculture's crop report</div><div><p>THE CROP REPORT: Grain prices fell Tuesday, a day ahead of the Agriculture Department's update on foreign and domestic grain production.</p><p>ADDED UNCERTAINTY: The USDA doesn't usually update prior-year production levels for Reuters) - U.S. food regulators announced a voluntary recall on Thursday of food made with a common flavoring that could be contaminated with salmonella bacteria but did not estimate how broad the recall will be.</p><p>The flavoring -- hydrolyzed vegetable protein -- is used in soups, sauces, hot dogs, snack foods, dressings and dips and is made by privately held United States $152 billion annually in health care and other losses, according to a report released Wednesday by a food safety group.</p><p>The report comes as the U.S. Senate...

USDA to boost wildlife habitat, trim cropland

2010-02-28T19:00:46Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal government will maximize enrollment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a policy that would reduce U.S. cropland by 1.5 percent if successful.</p><p>The amount of land involved, around 5 million acres, could pr...

$25 million set aside for Appalachian housing

2010-02-26T11:15:25Z

<div id="subtitle">Ky. group to help poor in central Appalachia tap into $25 million for low interest rate loans</div><div><p>A Kentucky-based nonprofit group will help low-income home buyers tap into $25 million in federal funding set aside for four central Appalachian states.</p><p>The California chicken growers.</p><p>Two organizations,...

Organic advocates optimistic about new USDA rules

2010-02-24T00:15:33Z

<div id="subtitle">Farmers, advocates optimistic new USDA rules mean better enforcement of organic labeling rules</div><div><p>New federal rules that define what makes milk and meat organic have natural food advocates optimistic that the government is committed to ensuring the label means something.</p><p>U.S. consumers bought $24 billion worth of organic products in 20...