Ag in the News

10/05/2007

National and International

Topps recall a 'wake-up call': USDA officials
Amid a flood of media scrutiny surrounding the Topps Meat Co. recall of about 22 million pounds of ground beef product linked to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in eight states, USDA officials admitted Thursday that the federal inspection system needs improvement. MORE!

Kraft to make Oscar Mayer separate unit
Kraft Foods Inc. plans to make its Oscar Mayer brand a separate business unit under a reorganization plan that would split its five North American business units into eight, Kraft spokeswoman Lisa Gibbons told Meatingplace.com. MORE!

Butterball breaks ground, announces plans for new headquarters
Mount Olive, N.C.-based Butterball announced yesterday that is has broken ground on its new corporate headquarters located in Garner, N.C., and unveiled plans for the new building that will open mid-2008. MORE!

Chicago men sue Vienna Beef over hot dog casings
Two Chicago men are suing Vienna Beef, alleging that the local hot dog leader mislead them into believing that the hot dogs they ate at several city hot dog stands in 2006 were "pure beef" and "all-beef" product. MORE!

Tyson Foods receives POULTRY's Industry Innovator award
Arlington, Va. — Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's largest protein processor, was honored by POULTRY magazine here Thursday for its outstanding commitment to new product development through combining culinary arts and food science. MORE!

Wrap Up

U.S. beef shipments to Korea interrupted again. South Korea announced it has again temporarily suspended quarantine inspections of U.S. beef after finding prohibited bones in a shipment that was made last week. The suspension of inspections effectively blocks imports of U.S. beef again and reports say the two sides will again meet to discuss the situation.

Senate Finance Committee clears package for farm bill. The Senate Finance Committee approved a $16 billion package titled the Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2007 which aims to provide the Senate Ag Committee extra spending for the next farm bill, including a $5.1 billion ag disaster aid fund. Jim Wiesemeyer has complete details in his Inside Washington Today dispatch.

Beef recall situation. USDA officials are defending the delay in announcing what has become the second largest recall of ground beef in U.S. history, saying there were conflicting test results initially and that they had to await results of a confirmatory test. But USDA has pledged to look at its procedures in this area and try to speed up the process of notifying consumers.

Cellulosic ethanol plant moving forward. Poet announced it has finalized a deal with the Dept. of Energy to move ahead on project design and engineering, environmental engineering and biomass collection for the first cellulosic ethanol plant. Then the construction phase will need to be negotiated with DOE, according to reports, so the plant construction is still a little ways off.