Posts tagged as food safety

Last November, agribusiness scored a victory that goes beyond a simple electoral win: Issue 2 in Ohio passed, which not only created a livestock care standards board to counteract a groundswell of support to overhaul factory farming, but did so by amending the state constitution. This board, packed with members that would make Cargill, Smithfield, and Tyson proud, now has free reign to dictate how livestock are raised in Ohio, with state regulators enforcing whatever rules they establish. Read more…

If you’re worried about the quality of domestic seafood due to the Gulf oil spill, think twice before you turn to imported seafood as a safer alternative. While many people, such as Change.org’s Sarah Parsons, have been questioning the safety of Gulf seafood, (with food safety officials now employing sniff tests to assess the acceptability of seafood from oil-contaminated areas), few have asked what safety regulations are in place for imported seafood. No matter what your thoughts on the sniff-test method, you should know that imported seafood, which has a lengthy record of safety issues, is barely put to any testing at all. Read more…

[This is the first in a three-part series exposing the truth about several American companies that have been depicted as leaders of environmental sustainability.]

Late last year, the New York Times ran an op-ed about “corporate sustainability” that shocked me with a handful of egregiously misleading depictions of three major American companies. The author, Jared Diamond, is a respected historian and author of several books. But Diamond’s article is all about how some businesses can be “among the world’s strongest positive forces for environmental sustainability.” The three examples he cites include Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and Chevron.  Really? Read more…

It was exciting to see a recent article in the New York Times that featured sustainable seafood – in this case, wild Gulf-caught shrimp.  Shrimp is the most popular seafood item in the U.S., but many are unaware of the ecological effects and consumer health implications of imported farm-raised shrimp. Read more…

One month ago, most of us had never heard of hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP. HVP is a food additive that rarely shows up on labels in those words. It’s more often listed as seasonings or natural flavorings. It fulfills many of the same functions as MSG without forcing companies to put the dreaded word on their labels.

But in the last month, we’ve had cause to learn what HVP is. From potato chips to seasoning mixes to dips, it seems much of our food is suddenly subject to a recall because of possible salmonella contamination of HVP produced by a Las Vegas company, Basic Food Flavors. The full list of recalled foods is over 150 items, but reports indicate that it could reach over 1,000 items before this is over.

Read more…