02/26/07 Food Inspection & Obesity

Better Food Inspection and Childhood Obesity. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond has announced plans for more robust risk-based inspection in processing plants. Raymond says this will mean an end to one-size-fits-all inspections - allowing USDA to determine the level of inspection needed at each individual processing plant. Raymond explains the process of risk based inspection of processing plants in coming months, and the continued gathering of feedback. RAYMOND: The 30 prototype locations are circuits. They are circuits assignments for our inspectors and they will comprise about 250 establishments will be in this initial prototype. 250 establishments out of 5300 is about 5%, a little less than 5%. It's a small step, measured by its diversity so we can take a good look over the next 6 to 7 months based on data, is this system working as well as I envision it or does it need some further tweaking? Nearly one-quarter of the 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders in the state are overweight, part of a national trend of increasing child obesity, a University of Washington study indicates. The study issued Thursday also found that 58 percent of the state's adults weigh too much, further evidence that the problem is multigenerational, and a key factor is lack of exercise. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. I have always considered the Hershey kiss about as American as apple pie. In fact I even sent a couple of bags to my boys this pass Valentines Day. Well, next year the dynamic duo will be getting a box of Sees instead of kisses. In what I find a disturbing trend, the largest North American manufacture of quality chocolates with revenues of nearly 5 billion, and the ability to provide 13,000 jobs for Americans is jumping ship and moving the majority of it's operation to Monterey Mexico. While the Hershey's corporation pacifies the apathetic public with a perky press release that sounds like it was written by Al Gore citing a "global supply chain transformation" as a reason to reduce 1500 US jobs within the next three years. I am so tired of anything "global" at the expense of America. In plain English Hershey's is selling out the country that made them a success. So in patriotic fashion Hershey's needs to learn the value of almighty dollar. I for one will be giving Hershey's a "Kiss" good-buy. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.