Food Traceability Report articles from May 2010

Food Traceability Report archives from May 2010

AFDO's Corby urges federal-state coordination on product tracing.(REGULATORY WATCH)
May 1, 2010... Joe Corby, executive director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, issued a plea for integrating the U.S. food safety system, "not just people and authorities but resources," at the Food Safety Summit last month in Washington, D.C. ...

Mexican beef exporters pin hopes on quality label.(LABELING)
May 1, 2010... Faced with sluggish beef exports to the United States linked to country-of-origin labeling (COOL), leading Mexican exporters are launching the "Mexican Beef label as an indicator of quality. "We are focusing on exporting value added meat...

Know your senator.(ADVENTITIOUS TRACES)
May 1, 2010... KNOW YOUR SENATOR: Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kans.) don't like USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, arguing that "while the concept of educating consumers about production agriculture...

"Food miles" debunked.(ADVENTITIOUS TRACES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2010... "FOOD MILES" DEBUNKED: New Zealand scientists claim to have debunked the "food miles" concept by showing that shipping accounts for only 5% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated in exporting 100 grams of lamb to the UK. The study,...

Deadline delayed.(ADVENTITIOUS TRACES)
May 1, 2010... DEADLINE DELAYED: Uruguay has delayed the deadline for mandatory individual traceability of the nation's cattle population until July 2011 to better implement the system. As last month's deadline approached, many of the nation's producers...

Mark your calendars.(ADVENTITIOUS TRACES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2010... MARK YOUR CALENDARS: USDA is holding public meetings to discuss its plans to develop a "new, flexible, yet coordinated framework for animal disease traceability in the United States." Under this new direction, announced in February, states...

Traceable eggs.(ADVENTITIOUS TRACES)
May 1, 2010... TRACEABLE EGGS: Canadian egg farmers will now have a set of national traceability standards thanks to a new investment from the government. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced the investment of over $800,000 in funding for Egg Farmers of...

Mixed ruling" from Supreme Court forecast in biotech alfalfa case.(GRAINS)
May 1, 2010... Expert attorneys assembled for an afternoon postmortem discussion of the Supreme Court's April 27 hearing on the biotech alfalfa case Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms forecast no clear legal victory for either Monsanto or for organic and consumer...

Bayer CropScience finds biotech rice trial verdict "incomprehensible".(GRAINS)
May 1, 2010... Bayer CropScience considers the April 15 verdict in a genetically engineered rice trial in Lonoke County, Ark., "incomprehensible" and plans to use all legal means available to reverse the decision. A jury in the Circuit Court of Lonoke...

EU agrees to lift restriction on U.S. rice imports.(GRAINS)
May 1, 2010... The European Union has agreed to lift an emergency measure restricting U.S. rice imports in the absence of assurances they are free of an unauthorized transgenic rice variety. The European Commission's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and...

Argentine grain traceability system gets off to a rough start.(GRAINS)
May 1, 2010... Argentina's grain traceability system is getting off to a rough start, in part because of its linkage with the nation's federal revenue service (AFIP), which is also responsible for collecting withholding taxes widely rejected by producers and...

Colombia's seed traceability system takes aim at black market.(GRAINS)
May 1, 2010... The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) has released rules governing the nationwide seed traceability system, which takes aim at black market seed transactions that pose a threat to consumers and the agricultural sector's reputation. The...

California citrus group urges delay in Produce Traceability Initiative.(REGULATORY WATCH)
May 1, 2010... In an open letter to leaders of the industry-run Produce Traceability Initiative, Joel Nelsen, influential president of California Citrus Mutual, is calling for postponement of the next PTI milestone, an Oct. 1 deadline for encoding Global Trade...

Ag groups concerned about traceability in food safety reform bill.(REGULATORY WATCH)
May 1, 2010... With a Senate vote looming on food safety reform legislation (S 510), some 28 commodity and food processing trade associations have written leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to stress "the importance of...

Italian government split over biotech cultivation policy.(REGULATORY WATCH)
May 1, 2010... A split on biotech policy emerged last month in Italy, one of the most fervent critics of transgenic crops in the European Union. Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo made clear her support for a scientific and "non-ideological"...

FSIS criticized for surprise changes in traceback proposals.(MEAT, POULTRY & FISH)(Food Safety and Inspection Service)
May 1, 2010... If USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service wants to make changes to the way it traces E. coli-contaminated beef products, the agency must clearly explain what steps will be taken, how the information collected along the way will be used, show...

USDA says animal traceability reflects "one health" concept.(MEAT, POULTRY & FISH)
May 1, 2010... USDA officials addressing the National Institute for Animal Agriculture's annual meeting in March in Kansas City, Mo., stressed that their new animal disease traceability program, which replaces the National Animal Identification System (NAIS),...

Peruvian leaders agree to labeling as price for biotech approvals.(LABELING)
May 1, 2010... Peru's Congress is readying biotech labeling legislation for approval along with a separate bill that would launch a scientific approval process for genetically engineered seeds. President Alan Garcia supports legislation requiring food...

Codex panel continues work on biotech labeling with timeline.(LABELING)(Chronology)
May 1, 2010... Giving short shrift to objections from the United States, the Codex Committee on Food Labeling on May 5 agreed to continue work on a biotech labeling document, but with a self-imposed timeline for completion next year. "This is a cat with...

Merrigan seeks to expand organic "mission" to all USDA agencies.(ORGANICS)
May 1, 2010... Kathleen Merrigan, the deputy agriculture secretary who helped draft the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act, told the Organic Trade Association's policy conference in Washington, D.C. April 14 that she wants to make organic agriculture "part of...

USDA forecasts proposed rule in August on dairy replacement animals.(ORGANICS)(United States Department of Agriculture )
May 1, 2010... With the long-awaited final rule on access to pasture by organic ruminant animals now under its belt (see FTR March, Page 6), USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service plans to tackle another controversial issue, National Organic Program: Dairy...

Cornucopia advocates tiered labeling approach for organic meat.(ORGANICS)
May 1, 2010... Filing comments on USDA's pasture access rule for beef cattle and other ruminants used in meat production, the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group, has recommended a three-tiered labeling system for organic meat from...

USDA issues "correction" on oils in organic infant formula.(ORGANICS)
May 1, 2010... USDA has announced the "correction" of a 2006 decision by its National Organic Program (NOP) regarding synthetic oils added to organic infant formula. The new interpretation of the National Organic Standards is based on new information from FDA,...

Milk origin verification solution.(PRODUCTS & SERVICES)
May 1, 2010... Milk origin verification solution. Picarro Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and IsoForensics, Inc., based in Salt Lake City, claim to have launched the world's first Milk Origin Verification Solution (MOVS) for the food and beverage industry....

Perishable food chain solution.(PRODUCTS & SERVICES)
May 1, 2010... Perishable food chain solution. FoodLink Online, based in Torrance, Calif., is launching the Hot Buys Marketplace, a tool offering benefits for both suppliers and buyers of perishable items such as fresh produce. Hot Buys allows sellers to...

Warning Letter guidance.(PRODUCTS & SERVICES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2010... Warning Letter guidance. Veriteq, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has issued a guide on How to Avoid and Respond to Public FDA Criticisms--Warning Letters--for Temperature, Humidity and other Controlled Environments. The 10-step guide is...

End-to-end traceability.(PRODUCTS & SERVICES)
May 1, 2010... End-to-end traceability. SAP America, Inc., based in Newtown Square, Pa., offers software and services that it says can enable end-to-end traceability from manufacturing inputs to distribution, while ensuring that only products in the right...

ERP software solutions.(PRODUCTS & SERVICES)
May 1, 2010... ERP software solutions. Technology Group International (TGI), based in Toledo, Ohio, offers the Enterprise 21 ERP system, which it says provides complete lot tracking from receipt of inbound ingredient and component lots that are consumed in...

Q & A.(Interview)
May 1, 2010... Jonathan Johnson is executive director of the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas's Sam M. Walton College of Business and co-director of the Sustainability Consortium, which was created last July along with the University...