HSUS Fires Back & Good News for Chocoholics

HSUS Fires Back & Good News for Chocoholics plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. For years there has been a heated battle between the HSUS and the livestock community. Increasing efforts to restrict livestock industry practices by animal rights groups are defended by the head of the Humane Society of the United States - Wayne Pacelle. PACELLE: All of our campaigns related to food animal production are about humane production standards, humane transport and humane slaughter. I mean I defy anyone to show me any statement where we say we want to eliminate animal agriculture. With Easter this Sunday it is a good time for chocoholics but now it appears that extra chocolate nibble just might lower your chances of having a heart problem. According to a new study, small doses of chocolate every day could decrease your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent. Previous studies have suggested dark chocolate in small amounts could be good for you, but this is the first study to track its effects over such a long period of time. Experts think the flavonols contained in chocolate are responsible. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. No matter that farmers and ranchers across the nation work hard to ensure quality care for all their livestock; when the Food and Safety Inspection Service of the USDA fails to do their job of properly inspecting slaughter plants and enforcing the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act everyone suffers. The whole animal ag industry gets a bad name. Animal rights activists are more than eager to dump the entire animal ag industry into one big pot of boiling oil because of the FSIS's failings. The USDA is well aware of the problems with the FSIS and has more than once promised to correct the situation, and yet the FSIS remains understaffed and ill-equipped to perform uniform and thorough inspections. What is it going to take to get this federal agency back on track, doing the job they were meant to do? Is it going to take "cleaning" house and starting over? Whatever the course of disciplinary action it needed to happen "yesterday"! Promises of "We'll do better" just don't cut it. Jerold Mande, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety may just find that his head will be one of those to roll, if he's lucky it may even be done humanely. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.