Food safety

Clinton campaign responds to huge beef recall

Senator Hillary Clinton has responded to the animal abuse at the Hallmark/Westland slaughter house and a subsequent recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef, much of it already consumed by school children. The response reflects just how difficult it is to propose policy while responding on the campaign trail to widely publicized events.

Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall, Highlight Systemic Weaknesses

The recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef exposes systemic weaknesses in the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection system.

Chicken Fight Over Antibiotics

Six years ago, IATP and the Sierra Club published the first study to test brand-name poultry products from stores for the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

New Baby Bottle Study Spurs Need for State Legislation

Minnesota based Healthy Legacy, co-founded by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, along with environmental health organizations across the U.S. and Canada are calling for an immediate phase out of bisphenol A in food and beverage containers, based on the results of a new study that demonstrates the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) leaches from plastic baby bottles when heated.

Group Letter to FDA re: U.S. Livestock May Be Reservoir for MRSA

Comment to FDA expressing concerns that the agency is not pursuing the likelihood that U.S. livestock operations are a reservoir for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the FDA is not responding to NARMS data indicating the emergence in the United States of Enterobacteriaceae resistant to cephalosporins.

Meat Trade

This article was first published by the Food Ethics Council, Volume 2, Issue 4. Winter 2007.

First concentrate on the farm

The Nov. 24 commentary by pro-irradiation advocate Michael Osterholm ignores a number of unresolved health concerns with respect to irradiating food (e.g. possible vitamin depletion, threats to public safety from introducing additional radiation sources into communities, etc.).

MRSA and Animal Antibiotic Use

A new study published in the scientific journal Veterinary Microbiology should cause the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take notice. The study's findings suggest the agency might start looking at confined hog operations as a possible source for the deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA).

Losing Control of U.S. Food Safety

This fact sheet briefly summarizes principal causes of the loss of U.S. food safety control oversight and some proposals to reassert that responsibility.

North American Plan For Avian & Pandemic Influenza

Canada, Mexico and the United States face a growing threat posed by the spread of avian influenza and the potential emergence of a human influenza pandemic. This Plan outlines a collaborative North American approach that recognizes controlling the spread of avian influenza or a novel strain of human influenza.