Foodborne Illness Scare Stories Set Agenda For Food Irradiation Scheme by FDA

Food safety advocates are hoping the study will boost efforts in Congress to overhaul the nation's antiquated food safety system that has seen consumer confidence plunge.

In recent years, the food supply has been battered by a series of high-profile outbreaks, many involving produce, such as lettuce, spinach, peppers and peanuts, leading to a rash of illnesses and even death for consumers.

Dozens of pathogens, many of them unknown, creep into the food supply each year. The price tag includes medical costs, lost productivity and quality-of-life, according to a study from the Produce Safety Project.'

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U.S. - Insane Food Bill 2749 Passes House On 2nd Try. HR 2749: Totalitarian Control Of Our Food Supply

HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any "facility" that holds, processes, or manufactures food. [isn't this every home in the US, every garden?] Although "farms" are exempt, the agency has defined "farm" narrowly. [What is the definition?] And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times. [Yes. There are laws against this corporate-size-destroys-the-little-guy policy, aren't there? Are home bread or cheese or lacto-fermented vegetable makers who make for their own families included in this?

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Monsanto Planting Seeds in the White House?

Apparently, President Obama is considering appointing Michael Taylor to head the new Food Safety Working Group.

The man has moved in and out of roles at the federal government and Monsanto so many times he probably has whiplash.

So what's the big deal? (I'm not going to opine on Monsanto here, other than to say that I know quite a few people who think Monsanto is the most evil corporation in the world, and that's even after this AIG debacle.) Well, two things:

The first is that I find it puzzling, to put it lightly, that Obama would choose this guy to help ensure food safety.

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Now They Want to Put Nanotechnology Into Your Food

Scientists are using nanotechnology to develop new ways of detecting pathogens such as salmonella in our foods.
Public health experts estimate that each year, more than 11 million Canadians suffer from food-borne illnesses such as salmonella or, more rarely, listeriosis. Some cases are mild, but for the very young or old, or pregnant women, the effects can be severe.
The emerging field of nanotechnology — the science of using particles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a strand of hair — could help improve food safety.

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Monsanto's Taylor is Back To Control Food Safety From The White House

Michael Taylor, perhaps stowed away in Hillary Clinton's trunk as a nostalgic reminder of the good ole days when Bill put him in charge of the FDA and he approved rBGH, has reentered government along with her. He slipped onto Obama's transition team somehow (just how?) and is now hoping to slip into an office ... in the White House.

What would he do there, he who subjected this country and many others to the increased risk of breast cancer (7 times greater risk), prostate and colon cancer because of what he did to milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream with rBGH as well as to all the foods that rely on milk solids and other parts of milk? Why, over see "food safety."

Food Democracy Now wants people to "[w]rite Secretary Vilsack (AgSec@usda.gov ) and tell him to stand strong on food safety."

But isn't that the same Vilsack who has no record on food safety, a strong record of support for Monsanto and genetic engineering, and oversaw a huge increase in CAFOs in Iowa and the loss of thousands of small farmers?

How is he supposed to "stand strong" on something he has never stood on before and actually supports the opposite of?

And he's Monsanto's boy and the guy who dreamed up the Monsanto laws that preemptively remove democracy from communities wishing to control what is planted on them or how farms are used.

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