In 2002, Congress passed a law requiring country-of-origin
labeling on all seafood, meat, poultry, and produce sold in this country.
Someone, apparently, thought we had the right to know where our food comes from—a
case of rare governmental foresight, given the current wave of food scares
coming out of China. But if you wander past the meat counter at your local
supermarket, you will notice that most, if not all, of the cuts on display bear
no indication of where they were produced. It turns out that the big beef
industry, which processes a great deal of imported meat, is so powerful that it
ignores the law with impunity, aided and abetted by Congressman Henry Bonilla,
a Texas Republican. Rep. Bonilla pushed through a series of measures that
delayed application of the law to meat (but not seafood). The most recent—and
cynical—forbade the Agriculture department from spending money to implement
the law. But that loophole closes in September, and according to United Press, some Democrats are pushing to put
some real teeth into the labeling law. They face formidable opposition from the
powerful meatpacking lobby, but one old foe is no longer a threat—Bonilla was
defeated in last November's election. Is there a message there for other
legislators?
The China Syndrome Continues
The FDA recently
recalled
two brands of "healthy" snack foods because the flavoring agent
with which they were sprayed (imported from China) was contaminated with
salmonella. More frightening was that Veggie Booty Snack Food and Super Veggie
Tings were marketed specifically toward young children, who are particularly at
risk from the bacterium. The name of the company that flavors its goodies with
this Chinese spray?
Robert's
American Gourmet.
McBiodiesel
If you thought that McDonald's
greasy food was only good for producing heartburn and super-sized waistlines,
you were wrong.
The Telegraph reports that by the end of this year the chain will power all
155 of its trucks in the U.K. with recycled cooking oil from its restaurants,
cutting its carbon emissions by 75 percent.
The Crate Escape
Those oinks of joy you hear emanate from the 4,000 breeding sows in Oregon. Governor Ted Kulongoski has just
signed a bill into law banning the use of gestation crates--the
cruel, two-foot-wide metal cages that prevent pregnant pigs from lying down,
turning around, and extending their legs. The bad news is that the law doesn't
come into effect until 2013. The good news is that Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio
has
introduced a bill in the House that would ban the inhumane cages
nationwide.