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Check! Or hopefully three. A new point system, favored by the Institute of Medicine, would use a three check system to rate foods based on nutritional value. A report from the Institute of Medicine states that the group is urging the Food and Drug Administration to adopt this new food labeling technique to show whether the amounts of saturated and trans fats, sodium and added sugars are below certain thresholds, according to MSNBC. The hope behind the system is to help busy shoppers make better choices faster. On the MSNBC Vitals blog, Art Caplan commented, "The food industry is using an ethical argument, claiming consumers don’t want the government telling them what to eat to defend a lack...

In the wake of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and officials from the FDA met in New Orleans with gulf coast state officials to coordinate a protocol for sampling and reopening waters that have been contaminated by the massive spill. Also present at the meeting were representatives from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the EPA. [caption id="attachment_4195" align="alignleft" width="282" caption="A fishing boat cuts through oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico."][/caption] The goal for last week’s meeting was to establish a multi-agency program to ensure that any seafood coming from the Gulf of Mexico and certified...

The U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are joining forces to investigate potential violations of antitrust laws in the agriculture industry. Attorney General Eric Holder and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Iowa last week speak to farmers, ranchers and industry leaders at a public meeting. The first of five workshops on competition and consolidation in the agriculture industry took place on Friday in front of a crowd of about 700 people. The central question to tackle is, Holder said, “Is today’s agriculture industry suffering from a lack of free and fair competition in the marketplace.” Public relations executives from Monsanto Company were also at the...

The Obama administration is making efforts to ban junk food from schools in an attempt to reduce childhood obesity through the overhaul of the Child Nutrition Act, the federal law that oversees school lunch and breakfast programs. Thirty-two percent of American school children are overweight or obese, putting them at significant risk for diabetes and other weight-related health problems as they age. The legislation, which will be introduced this week, would expel sugary foods and drinks from schools and require schools to offer more nutritious options. The nuts and bolts of the new legislation were going to be announced by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack last Monday at the National Press Club,...

Hannaford Supermarket has joined the effort to support dairy farmers in the Northeast by launching the "Keep Local Farms" program in its 171 stores in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont on January 12. Locally sourced dairy products in Hannaford markets will be clearly labeled with the "Keep Local Farms" icon to help increase consumer awareness and support for local dairy farmers. Hannaford is also encouraging customers to further contribute to the "Keep Local Farms" program by providing the option to donate an additional $2 or $5 upon checkout. The Vermont Dairy Promotion Council, the New England Dairy Promotion Board and the New England Family Dairy Farm Cooperative...

In an op-ed article for the New York Times, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof points out that although Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council dismisses the results of BPA testing, many studies show links between BPA and adverse health effects, including reproductive abnormalities, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes and heart disease. According to Consumer Reports, an FDA special scientific advisory panel reported in 2008 that the agency’s standard for BPA levels was inadequate and should be re-evaluated. Bills are currently pending in Congress that would ban the use of BPA in all food and beverage containers. Until changes are made to...