Laser Labels & New Fuels Legislation

Laser Labels & New Fuels Legislation plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

New laser based technology appears to have created a permanent, yet safe method to label fruits and vegetables according to Jan Narciso of USDA's Agricultural Research Service,

NARCISO: This sort of technology is very quick, very clean. We’ve done a lot of studies, it does not increase decay or does not increase the entrance of food pathogens and it’s very bio-secure so that any information you put on there and you can put anything you want and you can make the laser beam as strong as you want so you can put down any information you want – names, numbers so you could always trace back that particular commodity to where it came from and you never have to worry about someone removing the label and fiddling around with the information.

Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require that new fuels introduced into the marketplace are compatible with current gasoline-fueled engines. It’s called the Mid-Level Ethanol Blends Act of 2009 and under the bill; the EPA’s Science Advisory Board would provide recommendations to the EPA on the feasibility of allowing the sale of mid-level ethanol blends and would also have to address the expected availability of alternative fuels for up to five years following the launch of a new fuel and the ability of fuel delivery systems to protect engines from receiving incompatible fuel.

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

Whichever you call it “bad journalism” or “sensationalistic journalism”, its just plain wrong. Why is it that the majority of the media continue to call the H1N1 virus by its improper moniker of “swine flu”? America’s hog farmers have suffered a terrible injustice due to this error in reporting. Media insistence on calling the H1N1 virus by the wrong name has cost pork producers dearly this year in regional sales as well as an enormous loss in global exports. And the injustice just continues as we gear up for flu season. Be rest assured H1N1 is NOT a food borne illness. It cannot be contracted by eating pork. Numerous national and world food and health organizations and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have all stated that U.S. pork products are safe to eat. Hopefully there will be more of us this flue season calling this “bug” by its true name, H1N1 virus, and even more importantly, a larger number of us working to get the message out to the American consumers that they have nothing to fear from eating U.S. pork.

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