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Food poisoning outbreaks prompt oversight efforts, I
In 1973, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employed 35,000 inspectors; in 2007, the FDA employed 6,700 inspectors; at the same time, food imports into the U.S. increased exponentially
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Researchers find ways to reduce cattle flatulence
University of Alberta researchers developed a formula to reduce methane gas in cattle
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Schneier: no need to worry about terrorists poisoning food
Security maven Bruce Schneier says that fears of food-based bioterrorism are exaggerated: The quantities involved for mass poisonings are too great, the nature of the food supply too vast, and the details of any plot too complicated and unpredictable to be a real threat
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Aussie company improves food pasteurizing
Normally processors would have to use preservatives or heat the product and this inevitably changes the taste and destroys some nutrients; new method — called high-pressure processing (HPP) — uses pressure instead
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Calls for ranking the riskiest food products
In the last two years the United States has been rocked by food poisoning and contamination scares; the sheer number of products that need to be inspected, and the relatively small number of inspectors, lead experts to call for ranking products according to the risk they pose
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New biosensor for most serious form of Listeria food poisoning bacteria
Biolermakers researchers develop a biosensor using so-called heat shock proteins — which the body produces in response to stress — instead of the antibodies used in other tests
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U.S. food poisoning cases held steady in 2008
CDC says in a new report that United States did not suffer more food poisoning last year despite high-profile outbreaks involving peppers, peanut butter, and other foods
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California pistachio growers worry about big losses from FDA recall
California produces 96 percent of the U.S. pistachios; the entire $540 million-a-year industry is under threat as a result of FDA’s pistachios recall last week
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Food safety standards must be shown to add to companies' bottom line
TraceGains says its supply-chain solutions help companies turn disparate data into actionable business and value chain intelligence — turning traceability from a cost center into a profit center
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A wave of food recalls fuels drive for food safety reform
The FDA told consumers Monday to stop eating anything containing pistachios; the FDA was tipped off by Kraft Foods on 24 March, after the company found salmonella in routine testing and recalled some trail mix
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Lax meat-import rules open Canada to bioterrorism
Former Canadian food inspector says the rules governing meat imports into Canada leave Canadians vulnerable to bioterrorism and outbreaks of dangerous bacteria such as listeria
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Questions raised about private inspections of food companies
What the mortgage meltdown did to the financial services sector, the recent salmonella outbreak has done to to food industry: critics charge that both cases exposed the inherent weaknesses of industries regulating and inspecting themselves
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Drug industry uneasy with Obama's choice for FDA deputy
Food, pharmaceutical, and medical device groups said they were happy with Margaret Hamburg, President Obama’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); these groups are less comfortable with Joshua Sharfstein, the nominee to be her deputy; Sharfstein worked under Henry Waxman (D-California)
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Questions raised about private inspections of food companies
What the mortgage meltdown did to the financial services sector, the recent salmonella outbreak has done to to food industry: critics charge that both cases exposed the inherent weaknesses of industries regulating and inspecting themselves
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Obama to bolster food safety
Each year, about 76 million people in the United States are sickened by contaminated food, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized, and about 5,000 die; thirty-five years ago, the FDA. did annual inspections of about half of the nation’s food-processing facilities; last year, the agency inspected just 7,000 of the nearly 150,000 domestic food facilities; its oversight of foreign plants was even spottier
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