The USDA has jurisdiction over meat, poultry, and eggs. The FDA has jurisdiction over just about all other food products. The FDA does not currently have recall authority, but they are in the process of asking Congress for it.

In my previous post I said I did not know whether the USDA had recall authority. The article below suggests they do not have recall authority, nor do they want it:

The Mississippi House of Representatives has floated a bill (HB 282, below) that would make it illegal to serve obese patrons.

The gentlemen below are the Bill's authors. From left to right: W. T. Mayhall, Jr. (R), John Read (R) , Bobby Shows (D). It appears to be a bipartisan effort.

Lavender Blue sent me this article from Newsweek:

Junk Food County: Why many rural Americans can't get nutritious foods. The unhealthy truth about country living.

I can't stop thinking about it. It's troubling, on a number of levels.

An excerpt:

Wow. I didn't realize politics played such a suppressing role in getting fruits and vegetables on the table.

Here's a little Op-Ed piece that appeared in the New York Times yesterday. It was written by Jack Hedrin, an organic vegetable farmer from Minnesota:

My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)

From the Government Accountability Office, February 2007:"USDA inspects manufacturers of packaged open-face meat or poultry sandwiches (e.g., those with one slice of bread), but FDA inspects manufacturers of packaged closed-face meat or poultry sandwiches (e.g., those with two slices of bread)."

Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake reports that Fabiani & Lehane, the formerly-Democratic PR firm, has been canned by SEIU Local 99 and will have lost all of its union clients by week's end. From Jane's post:"By the end of the week, I believe Chris Lehane will have no union clients because of his work for the AMPTP," says SEIU President Andy Stern, who confirms that all Change to Win Unions are severing ties with Lehane. "His days are numbered in the labor movement." ... Change to Win unions include the Teamsters, Laborers, SEIU, Carpenters & Joiners, United Farm Workers, Food and Commercial Workers, and UNITE HERE.

Bill Durnan

Montreal Canadiens 1943-1950

Legends of Hockey home page

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Remember the FDA's historic Food Safety Teleconference for bloggers last November? The one where the FDA, in one of their most grassroots outreach moves, drew up a list of bloggers - average consumers talking about food safety - and invited them to listen in and ask questions about changes they were proposing via their new Food Protection Plan?

Well, pursuant to that call, Bill Marler (a food safety activist/attorney) thought it would be a good idea to set up a food safety conference. He envisioned inviting government, industry, science, and consumer representatives to discuss the present state of food safety, and to propose ways to improve it.

His conference came together. And it's about a month away!

The list of speakers is impressive. Here are a few:

Around the time Fred Thompson proclaimed, "I don’t think that it’s the primary responsibility of the federal government to tell you what to eat.", the USDA was issuing a press release describing changes it planned to make to its food assistance program WIC.

Bill Barber

Philadelphia Flyers 1973-2001
Tampa Bay Lightning 2002-2003

Legends of Hockey home page

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The sun was so mean that summer, it seemed to chase all the clouds away.
The Great Depression and the mean sun both bear down on the land. Jobs are disappearing, and cash money is scarce. The family lights only one room after dark, and nobody eats meat. On the Fourth of July, Mom says they can only afford a small block of ice from Russell's Store to chill some holiday lemonade.

Davey and Rose walk to the general store, lingering longingly at the penny candy counter. Seeing him standing there, Mr. Russell asks Davey to help their neighbor, Miss Elsie, carry out her groceries. On the way Davey asks Miss Elsie if he can work at Strawberry Farm for her in the spring.

"Davey, there probably won't be a Strawberry Farm next summer...." She sighed.

Miss Elsie pulled out an old brown penny from her purse. "I don't have many pennies left, but I still like to tip a good boy."

Do visit a Calorie Counter.

It also counts protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, and lots of other nutrients the USDA has tucked away in their data base. Uncluttered, fast, informative - government agencies in charge of food could learn from a site like this. :)

The owner of the site also has a blog. His last entry on November 6th points to a spectacular table he just created that compares basic nutrition facts for some popular foods from over 20 fast food restaurants:

Fast Food Restaurants & Nutrition Facts Compared

Bill Marler is blogging about raw milk if you'd like to add your two cents.
He posted a link to this video of Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures, defending the sale of his raw milk:

"You have no question in your mind that you are absolutely fricking on target. There's no question. There's no scientific test. There's no rationalization. There's no argument. You're fricking right."

Bill Mosienko

Chicago Black Hawks 1943-1955
Winnipeg Warriors (WHL) 1955-1960

Legends of Hockey home page

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On Wednesday, November 14, 2007, the FDA engaged in a historic event: its first teleconference with bloggers. I felt honored to have been invited.

In attendance were FDA Commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach (center in the photo), and FDA Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection, David Acheson (right in the photo). (HHS Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy is shown on the left.)

There was a full moon last night. It will be visible tonight too, and according to NASA, it will be the brightest full moon you'll see for the next 16 years:"That's because it's the highest-riding full moon until the year 2023."

The UK Department of Health released its "Health Profile of England 2007". They noticed a trend:

The UK Government Office for Science projected that trend 40 years into the future and determined that a "bold whole system approach is critical":

TECH NEWS