food safety news stories on Newser

Mad Cow Disease Shows Up in California

Matt Cantor — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:56:15 CDT

For the first time since 2006, US officials have confirmed a new case of mad cow disease, this time in California. The dairy cow's illness was detected during routine testing at a rendering plant by the USDA. None of the affected cow's meat got into human food, the agency says,...

Eyeless Shrimp? Report Raises Concerns in Gulf

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:47:08 CDT

Shrimp missing their eyeballs (and even eye sockets), fish covered in lesions, deformed crabs, and other mutated sea creatures are showing up in unsettling numbers in the Gulf of Mexico two years after the giant BP oil spill, according to an investigation by Al Jazeera English . "The fishermen have never...

Study Finds 48% of Chicken Could Be Tainted by Poop

Kevin Spak — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:12:05 CDT

There's a pretty good chance your chicken has been contaminated by poop. Some 120 chickens bought from grocery stores in 10 major cities were tested in a new study, which found that 48% were contaminated by E. coli, an indicator of fecal contamination, the New York Times reports. "Most consumers...

Ammonia an Ingredient in More Than Pink Slime

Newser Editors — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:43:19 CDT

If you were appalled by the revelation that the meat industry grinds up beef byproducts and gives them a nice ammonia bath, steel yourself: Experts say ammonia compounds are pretty commonly used in food. Ammonium hydroxide, which was given the OK by health officials in 1974, is added to milk...

FDA to Probe Inhalable Caffeine

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:21:00 CST

New York Sen. Charles Schumer isn't convinced inhalable caffeine is a good thing—at least not for kids, the AP reports. He has helped prod the FDA into investigating chapstick-sized caffeine inhalers called Aeroshots. The senator says his concern was prompted by incidents last year when students guzzled too many...

McDonald's Stops Using 'Pink Slime'

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:03:26 CST

Jamie Oliver's gastric juices must be bubbling with joy. The food activist and celebrity chef has fought for months against so-called "pink slime," and lo and behold, McDonald's announced last week it has stopped using the controversial beef, CBS News reports. The chain was "taking a product that would be...

FDA Stops All Imports of Orange Juice

John Johnson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:55:51 CST

Orange juice may be a little scarce (and a lot more expensive) in coming days: The FDA has stopped imports from all countries after traces of a fungicide turned up in samples from Brazil, reports Bloomberg . The agency will test for the chemical, called carbendazim, and destroy any batches with...

FDA: Fungicide Is in Your OJ

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:36:37 CST

Nothing says "good morning!" quite like some fungicide in your OJ. Fungicide? That's what's in there, as per the FDA itself. In a letter sent to the entire juice industry yesterday, the FDA revealed that an anonymous juice company last month detected low levels of carbendazim in its juice—and...

Farmers Fret as USDA Shuts Hundreds of Offices

Kevin Spak — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:16:21 CST

The US Department of Agriculture announced plans to close 259 offices, labs, and other facilities yesterday, in a move that will save the agency $150 million per year. But the announcement has some farmers and food safety experts worried, the AP reports. "They wiped out the entire Midwest," says one...