Huge Food Recall & Buying Organic

Huge Food Recall & Buying Organic

Huge Food Recall & Buying Organic plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Officials at the Food and Drug Administration believe the public health risk is low, and no one is known to have fallen ill as a result of the contamination. But, manufacturers voluntarily recalled 56 products last week, and that number is expected to balloon in the coming weeks into what could be one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history with potentially over 10-thousand products affected. Foods at risk contain a flavor enhancer called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, could be contaminated with salmonella. The additive is mixed into foods to give them a meaty or savory flavor. Federal officials say the public health threat is low because most products containing HVP are cooked during processing or carry cooking instructions for consumers, so any salmonella would be destroyed before the food was eaten. Ready-to-eat products, such as chips and other snack foods, would carry greater risks. More details as we get them. Despite a tight economy, Whole Foods Market co-president Walter Robb says a sizeable percentage of consumers buy organic. ROBB: During the last 12 months organic continued to grow at 2% versus the growth of conventional foods at slightly negative so even in the most challenging economic times what this says is the consumer, some consumers continue to make this choice. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Well, I have finally reached that age where I find myself asking the same questions I heard my parents and grandparents ask like, "Do I look like Fort Knox to you?", "Were you born in a barn?!", or "Has the world gone crazy?" That last one is a favorite and used quite frequently, especially when I read stories in the news like the one lately regarding Swiss citizens voting next week on a national referendum that will give animals the "right" to have an attorney act on their behalf in court. It may sound too ridiculous and bizarre to happen here in America but the White House's very own Cass Sunstein is a radical animal rights activisit. One of his, pardon the pun, "pet" causes is to establish legal rights and representation for wildlife, livestock and pets. He has even gone so far as to compare the treatment and care of livestock and family pets as "a form of unconscionable barbarity, in many ways morally akin to human slavery". I and many others I'm sure will be paying close attention to how the vote on animals' legal rights plays out in Switzerland. Hopefully, the American legal system will not "go to the dogs" any time soon. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
Previous ReportRussia Reopens to Pork & Maintaining 2008 Farm Bill
Next ReportHigh Priced Diet Plan & Humane Society Approves