The Mercury Policy Project has issued the first ever report on testing for mercury in tuna sold to the nation's schools. The report, titled "Tuna Surprise: Mercury in School Lunches", states that canned tuna is the largest source of methyl mercury in the U.S. diet and is a major source of mercury exposure for children." U.S. children eat twice as much tuna as they do of any fish or seafood. This high consumption rate, coupled with children's low body weights, can results in doses of mercury that exceed federal safety standards. No previous research has documented mercury levels in tuna served in schools. The Project bought 59 samples of canned tuna in 11 states around the country and tested them for mercury. The average mercury level in light tuna was 0.118 micrograms/gram, which was … [Read more...]
Central Valley Meat Is Back On Lunch Trays
Central Valley Meat, which was ordered to suspend operations for one week in August after a video showing animal cruelty at its slaughterhouse went viral, has been re-approved for participation in the school lunch program. While experts agree that there was animal cruelty at the slaughterhouse, inspectors from the U.S. Agriculture Department's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) concluded that no food safety violations occurred. Central Valley was quietly readmitted to the school lunch program at the end of August. In the memo, FSIS also states that it "concluded its evaluation of the extensive corrective action plan submitted by Central Valley Meat Company to correct recent humane handling violations and has permitted Central Valley Meat to resume processing. As a … [Read more...]
