FoodProductionDaily: FDA Food Safety Plan Does Not Go Far Enough

The following excerpt is from an article reported on December 2, 2008 in FoodProductionDaily.Com:

The not-for-profit US consumer advocacy group, Consumers Union (CU), claims that while the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new report on its current food safety activities shows some progress, it is not enough to adequately protect the American food supply.

For the full article, go to FDA plan does not go far enough, says consumer group.

Rabobank Report: U.S. Food Safety in Fresh Produce

Below is a link to a Rabobank America audio podcast posted on August 13, 2008. Here is an introduction to that podcast.

Without a nationwide traceability system in the U.S. for fruits and vegetables, identifying food contamination sources has been slow, inaccurate and difficult. Recent outbreaks have threatened public health and damaged the image and sales in the fresh produce industry, according to Rabobank’s “U.S. Food Safety in Fresh Produce” report.

“Several factors play a role in the severity and awareness of food contamination outbreaks in the fresh produce sector: media, increasing consumption, imports of fresh produce and changing population demographics,” said Marieke de Rijke, assistant vice president in food and agriculture research at Rabobank Group, who examines U.S. food safety in the report and podcast.

Here is the link to the 7m 50s podcast entitled New Rabobank Report, Podcast Inspect(s) U.S. Food Safety.

Banking on Granular Information Ownership

Banking on Granular Information Ownership - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Banking on Granular Information Ownership

USDA Takes Action on Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued an interim final rule for the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) program that will become effective on Sept. 30.

The rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef (including veal), lamb, chicken, goat, and pork; perishable agricultural commodities (fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts -- as required by the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. USDA implemented the COOL program for fish and shellfish covered commodities in October 2004.

Commodities covered under COOL must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin. However, they are excluded from mandatory COOL if they are an ingredient in a processed food item.

USDA has also revised the definition of a processed food item so that items derived from a covered commodity that has undergone a physical or chemical change (e.g., cooking, curing, smoking) or that has been combined with other covered commodities or other substantive food components (e.g., chocolate, breading, tomato sauce) are excluded from COOL labeling.

Food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges, and similar enterprises are exempt from the mandatory country of origin labeling requirements.

The rule outlines the requirements for labeling covered commodities. It reduces the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and centrally-located retail records to one year and removes the requirement to maintain records at the retail store. The law provides for penalties for both suppliers and retailers found in violation of the law of up to $1,000 per violation.

The rule will become effective on Sept. 30, 2008. To allow time for covered commodities that are already in the chain of commerce -- and for which no origin information is known or been provided -- to clear the system, the requirements of this rule will not apply to covered commodities produced or packaged before Sept. 30, 2008.

The rule prescribes specific criteria that must be met for a covered commodity to bear a "United States country of origin" declaration. In addition, the rule also contains provisions for labeling covered commodities of foreign origin, meat products from multiple origins, ground meat products, as well as commingled covered commodities.

USDA plans to conduct education and outreach activities during the six months following the rule's effective date to help the industry comply with the law.

The full text of the interim final rule will be published in the Aug. 1, 2008, Federal Register.

Copies of the interim final rule and additional information can be found at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/COOL.

BeefTalk: Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

The following excerpt is from a Beef Talk article recently authored by Dr. Kris Ringwall, Director of the Dickinson Research Extension Center for North Dakota State University. He is a regular and well-followed commentator within the beef industry.

"The concept of data collection is knocking on the door of the beef industry, but the concept is not registering. In fact, there actually is a fairly large disconnect.

This is ironic because most, if not all, beef producers pride themselves on their understanding of the skills needed to master the production of beef. Today, there is another player simply called “data.”

The information associated with individual cattle is critical. Producers need to understand how livestock production is viewed ....

That distinction is not being made and the ramifications are lost revenue in the actual value of the calf and lost future opportunity. This is critical for the future of the beef business ...."

For the full article, go to the BeefTalk article, Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

As Dr. Ringwall is also the Director of CalfAID, a USDA PVP Program for livestock source and birthdate information, you may also want to compare the Pardalis news release from November, 2007 entitled CalfAID Director Testifies To International Trade Commission. And you might also want to check out a March 2008 news release from North Dakota State University entitled N.D.’s CalfAID Program to Continue.