Nestle Recall & Food Prices Rising

Nestle Recall & Food Prices Rising

Nestle Recall & Food Prices Rising plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Food maker Nestle USA on Friday voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products after a number of illnesses were reported by those who ate the dough raw. The FDA and CDC are investigating reported E. coli illnesses that might be related to the ingestion of raw cookie dough. Five illnesses in Washington state may be linked to the cookie dough, two of the patients, teenage girls in Thurston and King counties, were hospitalized. One Oregon girl was hospitalized but released last month.

Food price inflation so far in 2009 has been smaller than in recent years, but prices may start rising again shortly. Ephriam Leibtag, USDA economist, saying that food prices will likely head up again.

LEIBTAG: The forecast for food is a 3 to 4% increase in food prices. That implies a little more inflation towards the end of this year but I think we will have that if the economy is strengthening or at least recovering a little bit and if we have continued pressure in the commodity markets. Now if those things drop back down again after the summer then we may end up with inflation below that 3% number. That’s kind of the uncertainty that we are facing right now.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

Recent studies suggest that the failing economy has resulted in a large percentage of the nation’s population experiencing sleep deprivation. Ya think! Good old common sense would see that as a given. Who hasn’t spent a sleepless night or two worrying about making ends meet. Truth be told though, Americans have been treading the path of sleeplessness long before the current economic meltdown. We are known as the 24/7 society. Today’s technology keeps us plugged in at all times. It may seem like this is just a “city slickers” problem, but in reality, its happening even in rural areas. Many of us who grew up in farm communities were brought up to believe that napping is akin to laziness; working hard from sunup to sundown is considered the natural law of order on a farm.  But lack of sleep can lead to numerous health risks and interfere with even the simplest of daily tasks such as driving or operating machinery. So slow down and take some shut eye time. Sleep isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

 

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