Massive Recall & Get It Right plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.
In one of the largest food recalls in history the FDA is using very strong words like: stop selling recalled products. The FDA is asking retailers, manufacturers and consumers to throw out every product made in the past two years from peanuts processed by Peanut Corporation of America. There have been 8 deaths and about 500 people in 43 states and Canada who have become ill. Two civil lawsuits are pending against the company, Peanut Corporation of America at Blakely, Georgia. If you have any products that contain peanut check the FDA's website for more information. Jars of peanut butter are not involved in the recall.
The ethanol industry is telling the Obama Administration to "get it right" on an updated renewable fuels regulation the Bush Administration punted to Obama. Otherwise - it argues biofuels will take a hit. Dinneen contends that done right, with the right incentives, his industry can continue to meet renewable fuels targets on the way to a mandated 36-billion gallons by 2022.
DINEEN: If you are going to be able to produce biofuels with a dramatic reduction in carbon, this rule is helping identify what that carbon footprint is and incentivize more sustainable technologies if done right. But it is real important that EPA and the administration gets this rule right.
Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.
You come to expect a certain amount of bad behavior from parties holding particular levels of government office or certain businesses, but from the American Soybean Association?! The recently supposed antics of the Soybean Export Council employees reads like a Harold Robbins novel. Who would have thunk it. Soybean check off money used to fund improper sexual relations at a foreign office; knife fights at office functions, and engaging in conflicted interests were all part of the long list of allegations. Officials deny any and all such allegations and instead declare them imaginary ravings of a disgruntled former employee. And that they may very well be, but the damage has been done. Now the only thing that can set things right, be the allegations true or false in their origin, is to follow through with a thorough investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Agriculture. Producers and the American public need to know that monies are being used for that which they were intended: research and promotion; not sex and sin in the city.
Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.