The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has issued a white paper that scolds the USDA for stalling poultry animal welfare regulations. Most egg and poultry operations would not be affected by the increased welfare standards. The USDA analysis of economic impact is “faulty”, according to CFS. The paper states that the largest organic farms are … Read more
John Howard, director of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), sent a letter to Al Almanza, FSIS administrator last week, telling him that the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service misinterpreted findings of a NIOSH study evaluating worker safety vis a vis increased line speeds at poultry processing plants. That study looked … Read more
A new study published in the Journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found that kitchen cutting boards can become contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria from raw meat. Researchers at the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland looked at 154 cutting boards before they were washed from the hospital and 44 from private homes after they were used … Read more
An article in the Oregonian details how Denmark started an intensive effort twenty years ago to try to control Salmonella infections in poultry after an increase in human illness. In the U.S., at least 200,000 people are sickened ever year by Salmonella in poultry. The USDA launched a Salmonella Action Plan last year that has … Read more
According to Food and Water Watch, congressional leaders and poultry workers have asked the Obama administration to stop the USDA from letting poultry plants increase line speeds. The new regulations, which were announced two years ago, will increase line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175, despite a lot of evidence that this speed … Read more
Food & Water Watch is targeting poultry industries in Maryland that contribute to nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Legislation introduced by Senator Richard Madaleno (D-18) and Delegate Shane Robinson (D-39), called the Poultry Fair Share Act, would hold Maryland’s big poultry companies partially accountable for cleanup. Water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has … Read more
Several members of Congress have sent a letter to ranking members of the Senator and House Committee on Appropriations and Agriculture, telling them that chicken processed in China and exported to the U.S. should not be served in school lunches. The letter was sent to Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Congressmen Robert … Read more
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has sent a letter to the National Chicken Council (NCC), asking them to update guidelines for humane handling and living conditions for chickens. They say that “current unprecedented growth rates and standard living conditions of chickens not only pose serious concerns for their welfare, … Read more
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has hit the panic button on poultry from China too early, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA- FSIS). Poultry slaughtered in China is not currently allowed for sale in the U.S., but if it were to receive approval it would meet U.S. food safety standards, … Read more
A new study published in F1000Research and funded by Northern Arizona University has found that kosher chickens contain more antibiotic-E. coli bacteria. Scientists could not explain why kosher chickens had the highest level, which organic chicken had antibiotic-resistant bacterial levels just as high as conventionally raised chickens. Only chickens that were raised without antibiotics (RWA) … Read more