The more we see problems creep up with our food, such as salmonella and ecoli nationally, or with the tainted milk in China, the tighter we will see our laws regarding labeling and packaging become.



The newest law is called Country-Of-Origin- Labeling (COOL) and goes into effect October 1st.  There will be some problems with the law/ multi-origin products will not be required to be labeled (example chocolate covered nuts) and neither will processed meats (Spam or chicken nuggets).  We should look for some problems to be reported in the near future while things are ironed out.

 

"No more wondering where your hamburger came from, or where your lettuce and tomatoes were grown: Starting this week, shoppers will see lots more foods labeled with the country of origin.

Here are some common questions as shoppers navigate the change:

Q: What does the new law require?

A: That retailers notify customers of the country of origin — including the U.S. — of raw beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken, goat, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and whole ginseng. (The aim was big agricultural commodities; ginseng was added for fear of imports masquerading as U.S.-grown.)

Q: Where will I see the country of origin?

A: Anywhere it fits. The rubber band around asparagus; the plastic wrap on ground beef; the little sticker that says "Gala" on an apple. If a food isn't normally sold in any packaging — such as a bin of fresh green beans or mushrooms — then the store must post a sign.

Q: Aren't many foods already labeled?

A: Some fresh produce already uses origin labeling as advertising. "Fresh from Florida" or "Jersey Grown" or "Vidalia Onion" tags don't have to be changed under the new rules; the shopper should realize they're all U.S. products.The COOL law mandating such labels first passed in 2002, but lobbying by grocery stores and large meatpackers led Congress to delay the U.S. Department of Agriculture from implementing it. Seafood labeling was phased in first, in 2005 — a key change given recurring safety problems with fish and shellfish from certain countries, including China.

Q: What's the biggest exception?

A: The labels aren't for processed foods, meaning no label if the food is cooked, or an ingredient in a bigger dish or otherwise substantially changed. So plain raw chicken must be labeled but not breaded chicken tenders. Raw pork chops are labeled, but not ham or bacon. Fresh or frozen peas get labeled, but not canned peas. Raw shelled pecans, but not a trail mix.

Q: What if the foods are merely mixed together?

A: They're exempt, too. So cantaloupe slices from Guatemala get labeled. Mix in some Florida watermelon chunks, and no label. Frozen peas, labeled. Frozen peas and carrots, no label. As for bagged salads, USDA considers iceberg and Romaine to be just lettuce, so that bag gets a label. Add some radicchio? No label.

Q: Must all stores comply?

A: No. Meat and seafood sold in butcher shops and fish markets are exempt.

Q: What if companies buy food from various places — beef from both U.S. and Mexican ranchers, for instance?

A: That's a bone of contention between large U.S. meat producers and smaller ranchers that produce exclusively U.S. animals. Tyson Fresh Meats, for instance, says it's too expensive to separate which of its cattle came from which country. So in a July letter to customers, Tyson said it would label all beef "Product of the U.S., Canada or Mexico." The National Farmers Union is protesting; USDA is considering the complaints.

Q: Aren't country labels on some processed foods?

A: Yes, tariff regulations have long required that a food put into consumer-ready packaging abroad be labeled as an import; that doesn't apply to bulk ingredients.

Q: When does the change take effect?

A: The law goes into effect Tuesday, although USDA won't begin fining laggards until spring. Violations can bring a $1,000 penalty. "

Read the entire article  HERE

In California....

That nasty cancer-causing chemical acrylamide will be no more in potato chips.  No longer in fries and tater tots, either.  And companies will pay, including Heinz and Frito-Lay. 

"Acrylamide is produced when potatoes and other starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures. It is used industrially for treating sewage, and its presence in food was unknown in 1990 when California listed the chemical as a cancer-causing substance under Proposition 65. That initiative, passed in 1986, requires companies to post warnings of exposure to substances that cause cancer or birth defects.Swedish scientists were the first to detect acrylamide in food in a 2002 study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is studying the chemical but has not imposed nationwide restrictions. The FDA has advised consumers that they can reduce the levels of acrylamide in fried potatoes by not over-browning them while cooking.

The settlement requires the potato chip producers to reduce acrylamide to 275 parts per billion in three years, a low enough level to avoid a Prop. 65 warning label. That amounts to a 20 percent reduction for Frito-Lay and an 87 percent reduction for Kettle Chips, Brown's office said. Little or no reduction will be needed for most Cape Cod chips, but one product, Cape Cod Robust Russets, will require a warning label, the attorney general said."

So why aren't there nationwide restrictions?

Read complete article HERE

Rep. John Read, R-Mississippi



It's difficult enough to get bars and their employees to follow the law and know when to stop serving intoxicated customers.

We know the sad reality of that all too well.

Imagine this.

Imagine if you are overweight.

On the upper end of that BMI scale.

You go into a restaurant.

The server comes to the table and looks you over....

and says "No food for you!"

Well, that just might be possible in Mississipi...the "fattest state in the nation."

That is, if Republican Rep. John Read has his way....

Read the article

Mississippi Considers Restaurant Ban for Obese    É  here

Boy, oh, boy...

Now that would be a hard one to enforce.

What....do you have booths with built-in scales?

Is obesity in the eye of the beholder?

I know there is a problem in our country, but are we capable of policing each other in regards to weight?

I know insurance costs have risen because of the health related issues for obesity.

But, it is not illegal to be huge.

And isn't it bad enough having an overweight doctor telling a patient they are fat?

Now they want a waitress to tell you?

How about this...

Look in a mirror. 

Check the size tag on your clothes.

Those two things will tell you right there.

Each person has to make up their own mind whether they will or will not lose weight.


_______________________________________________




 

While chatting with Hispanic voters in a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada, last week, Hillary Clinton stretched for an analogy to explain how all Americans are connected and their problems interconnected despite the fact that "we treat them as though one is guacamole and one is chips."

Wow, Hillary....I'm sure THAT went over really well...

...along with your statement "No woman is illegal."
.






That's my sad but true lead-in joke to a real problem....

All you Guacamole lovers out there.....

Keep a stiff upper lip....

The California avacado crop is still in danger!

"The worst year in decades."

First the big freeze last year that sent the avacado prices sky-high.

Then the wildfires and winds.

And, there is a water cut imposed by officials due to the drought.

Avacados are still available from imports through Mexico and Chile.

Read the article from MSNBC

Freeze, Then Fires, May Wipe Out Avacado Farms   ç here




As far as Hillary and her guacamole and chips comment....

If she possibly makes it to the White House....

Maybe the Bush's will leave their own Guacamole recipe behind for Hillary....

But here it is, just in case....



President and Laura Bush's Guacamole Recipe

8 ripe avocados
4 lemons, juiced
7 shallots, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp salt

Halve and pit avocados and scoop out flesh into a bowl. Mash to desired consistency and mix in remaining ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

 

Workers spray concrete on the walls of the Svalbard Global Seed
Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway, during the construction phase in August.

In announcing it would create a global seed bank on the Svalbard Islands,
Norway did not say exactly where but the archipelago includes a few
existing settlements like this one at Alesund

Have you ever wondered what would happen to the world's supply of seeds in case
of a global catastrophe? 

Something such as plant epidemics, natural disasters like flooding, the dreaded climate change, or war?

Are you aware of the  Svalbard Global Seed Vault  in Oslo, Norway? 

It is called the "Doomday Vault."

The vault is blasted into the permafrost of the Arctic, 300 miles from the mainland.  The temperature of the vault will be kept at zero degrees Fahrenheit.  It's like a safe-deposit box.  Each country owns what they deposit in the vault and can take it out at their own will 

The vault is due to open February 26, 2008.

"It's very satisfying to see the vault evolve from a bold concept to an impressive facility that has everything we need to protect crop biodiversity," said Norway's Agriculture Minister Terje Riis-Johansen.

Norway first proposed building what it called a "Noah's Ark" for the world's seeds in June 2005, and started construction a year later, blasting a nearly 400-foot (120-meter) tunnel into a frozen mountain and placing the vault for foil-wrapped seeds deep inside. Each sample holds about 500 seeds."


There already are about 14,000 seed banks in the world run by individual countries.  But some of these have already been wiped out, such as in the Philippines, destroyed by a typhoon, South Asia, destroyed by tsunami, or in Iraq (looters) and Afghanistan (by Taliban), destroyed by war.  The Svalbard vault is intended as a final backup for all other seed banks.  

"The vast collection is intended as a hedge against disaster so that food production can be restarted anywhere on the planet should it be threatened by a regional or global catastrophe."

Click on the icon below for information about the complete history of the Doomsday Vault, including frequently asked questions:

Were you aware we even had "seed banks" around the world? 

Do you think this is a cool idea?

Are you "unglued" when you realize the seed banks of some countries have already been destroyed and it took until 2008 to get a "Doomsday Vault?"  I mean, come on ....