02/22/05 They let it in; The marketing force

U.S.D.A. investigators say their agency did allow Canada to ship questionable meat into our country, despite restrictions in place since May of 2003. The investigation's findings include the permit creep of 42,000 pounds of meat from Canada into the U.S., without alerting the public about the shipments, and prior to a Judge's ruling last April preventing U.S.D.A. from expanding Canadian beef imports. The restrictions have been in effect since an Alberta cow was discovered to have b.s.e. almost two years ago. U.S.D.A. officials say the problems addressed in the investigation are fixed or being fixed in lieu of the agency's March Seventh date to reopen the border to Canadian live cattle and beef products from cows thirty months and younger. Hasbro is about to unveil its newest toy in advance of the latest Star Wars movie. Get ready for Darth Tater. That's right. Mr Potato Head has gone to the dark side in the form of Darth Tater. But it turns out he's not exactly new. Western Image of Boise makes and sells tourist items and tee shirts. SHIRROD: Any time a new Star Wars movie comes out we see a little bit of a bump in the sale of the shirt. And Western Image owner Mark Shirrod says it's surprising how much Hasbro's Darth Tater resembles his. Never the less, the force is still with him. SHIRROD: In 1994 since the day we introduced it year in and year out it is our number one selling tee-shirt design. Now with today's "Food Forethought", here's Susan Allen. ALLEN: Over the last decade pesticides formulations have become softer while regulations have become stricter. Are we becoming too picky about pesticides? In the Washington State farm workers are now required to undergo blood testing if they spend the equivalent of two and a half work days or more in a thirty day period handling pesticides, and in what looms a logistical nightmare, farmers are required to make sure farm labors receive it. The testing threshold has been dropped to 30 hours from 50 hours after a series of tests by the Department of Labor and Industries found that the blood of some orchard workers showed lower levels of a beneficial protein. Other crops like potato's, wheat and wine differ immensely in handler exposure levels causing many commodity group leaders to demand more flexible rules for crops with low pesticide exposure. There is also evidence that personal hygiene can play a role in reducing pesticide levels, making many question whether personal responsibility, education, or legislation hold the solution. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought