Can any type of agricultural product become certified organic? Yes, any agricultural product that meets third-party or state-certification requirements may be considered organic. Pollution and climate change are now drawing worldwide attention, and one result of increasing awareness is a new interest in organic farming techniques and buying from local producers. Nonfood organic products (personal care products, nutritional supplements, household cleaners, flowers, pet food and clothing,...

To respond to mounting criticism without a budget increase, the FDA has tried a band-aid approach: On May 1, the agency created a new food-safety oversight position, naming its chief medical officer, David Acheson, the agency's first assistant commissioner for food protection. To respond to mounting criticism without a budget increase, the FDA has tried a band-aid approach: On May 1, the agency created a new food-safety oversight position, naming its chief medical officer, David Acheson,...

Overall, the FDA is responsible for regulating about 80 percent of the nation's food supply; the Agriculture Department inspects meat, poultry and eggs, the other 20 percent. Pet food made headlines, but food for humans is tainted, too, and very little gets inspected. But it was contaminated wheat gluten that put the spotlight on a real and frightening fact: China's chronic food safety woes are now an international concern. Fish fillets, bird products, animal feed products and dried fruits...

Food and Drug Administration team was in China to investigate how melamine, a chemical product, got into pet food, killing at least 16 pets in the United States and leading to a recall of more than 100 brands of pet food. China has pledged to act on food safety following the melamine breaches, and on Wednesday announced an industry clean-up that would see fertilisers, pesticides and additives in livestock feed inspected. At a regular Foreign Ministry briefing, spokeswoman Jiang Yu said...

Food and Drug Administration cited the firms as the source of pet food ingredients tainted with melamine, a chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants. Adding it to feed makes it appear to be higher in protein, bringing a better price for the makers of feed for stock animals such as pigs, chickens and fish as well as companies that make food for household pets. The campaign followed an announcement that authorities had detained managers from two companies linked to...

Still, food prices particularly poultry and beef will be slightly higher in coming years as a result of increased biofuels production, Collins said. ethanol plants will produce 9.3 billion gallons of ethanol for the crop year ending August 2008, up from the 5.9 billion gallons expected for the current crop year. But Collins said the increase is mainly due to other factors, including bad weather that harmed fruit and vegetable production and low levels of Australian wheat crops. The meat,...

By Abigail Goldman, Times Staff Writer May 13, 2007 The food safety czar at the Food and Drug Administration performs one ritual before his twice-weekly teleconferences with reporters, who sometimes snarl their questions about tainted animal foods: He eats. By Abigail Goldman, Times Staff Writer May 13, 2007 The food safety czar at the Food and Drug Administration performs one ritual before his twice-weekly teleconferences with reporters, who sometimes snarl their questions about tainted...

Officials say that forage that had been green before the freeze has been set back, which is a concern for ranchers. We raise hybrid Bermuda grass hay, and lost our entire first hay cutting this year, so are suffering along with the wheat farmers. Pennington says the warm weather that came before the freeze had some cattle suffering from heat stress and the cold weather helped them out. Cooperative Extension Service dairy specialist Jodie Pennington says the cows themselves weren't harmed...

imports roughly 80 percent of its wheat gluten from Australia, the European Union and China, where the contaminated wheat gluten behind the recent pet food recall is believed to have originated, according to figures from the National Association of Wheat Growers. Even as fears grow over contaminated imported wheat gluten in recalled pet food, U. imports roughly 80 percent of its wheat gluten from Australia, the European Union and China, where the contaminated wheat gluten behind the recent...