03/07/07 Meat Recall, False Ads & Bush Signs

Meat recalled, false advertising & Bush to sign pact. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. On Friday, Tyson Fresh Meats recalled more than 16,000 pounds of beef after a lot sample was found tainted with E. coli bacteria by the U.S. Department of Agriculture`s Food Safety and Inspection Service. That beef was processed at Tyson`s Wallula, Washington plant Feb. 16 and distributed in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. It may take up to 10 days to get the contaminated product off store shelves, a federal official says. Tyson sold the ground beef to four distributors, which in turn sold it to their retail customers. To date, no related illnesses have been reported. Idaho businesses that purchased unnecessary health posters from a Michigan based business calling itself the Idaho Food Service Compliance Center are entitled to refunds under the terms of a legal settlement. The company, which also used the name "Idaho Mandatory Poster Agency," falsely advertised that all food establishments in Idaho were required to purchase "approved hand-washing" posters in order to comply with new Idaho food codes. However, Idaho has no new food statutes regarding hand-washing posters. Under terms of the settlement, the company will pay a refund to all Idaho businesses that purchased the $19.95 poster. The Idaho Food Service Compliance Center also agreed to pay the Attorney General $10,000 in civil and investigative costs. Thursday - President Bush leaves for a visit to Latin America. The President is expected to meet with Brazilian President Silva on Friday. When he does he is expected to sign an accord to develop standards to help turn ethanol into an internationally traded commodity. The agreement would also promote sugar cane-based ethanol production in Central America and the Caribbean  to help meet rising international demand. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. It's appalling for us in the United States to conceive in this era of heightened environmental awareness ivory is still a coveted commodity in Asia. In one bust, more than six tons of ivory was seized in Singapore in 2002. Unlike Global warming, where our efforts to stop air pollution fall completely on deaf ears throughout the Asian continent we are making an impact on the Ivory trade. US Scientists, funded by our Fish and Wildlife Department are fighting black market ivory by using DNA analysis. The Singapore Ivory that was seized was tracked by matching DNA samples of elephants throughout of Africa and remarkably traced to a small area centered near Zambia alerting law officials and conservationists to this trade route. It is time for strong arming through sanctions and boycotts to bring Japan (in the case of dolphins and whales) and China with a track record of exploiting a host of animals to realize the rest of the world has grown quite weary of their blatant disregard for our natural kingdom. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.