USDA 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,...

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:30:27 CST

A North Carolina preschooler arrived at school with a lunch packed by her mom, but ended up eating just three chicken nuggets from the school cafeteria because a state agent didn't think her packed lunch was nutritious enough. Pre-kindergarten programs are required to serve lunches that meet USDA guidelines—one...

It's Time to Regulate Sugar

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:45:05 CST

Tobacco, alcohol, and ... sugar? Yes, according to professors at UC San Francisco, sugar should be regulated like tobacco and alcohol in order to cut down on ailments like heart disease, high blood pressure, and fatty liver disease, the Los Angeles Times reports. “For both alcohol and tobacco, there is robust...

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...

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...

Horse Slaughterhouses Could Soon Rise Again

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:18:36 CST

When Congress passed a spending bill earlier this month to keep the government from shutting down, it quietly lifted a funding ban on horse meat inspections—meaning horses can once again be butchered in the US for human consumption, and slaughterhouses could open within 30 to 90 days. The US...

Congress Declares Pizza a Vegetable

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:10:25 CST

Thanks to Congress, pizza is still considered a vegetable—at least where school lunches are concerned. Proposed new school lunch standards from the USDA would have limited potatoes in school lunches (think French fries) and stopped counting less than a half-cup of tomato sauce as a vegetable (think pizza), but...

Scientists Hunt for New Chocolate Flavors

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:16:59 CDT

In 2008 and 2009, American and Peruvian scientists joined forces on a hunt for sweet treasure—new kinds of chocolate. They explored the Amazon Basin, searching for wild cacao trees—which produce the beans that go into chocolate—and discovered 342 specimens from 12 watersheds, reports NPR . Each new cacao...

Feds Knew of Cargill Salmonella in 2010

Polly Davis Doig — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:39:41 CDT

Mammoth meat packer Cargill recalled a whopping 36 million pounds of ground turkey last week, but federal officials knew of salmonella contamination at a Cargill plant dating back to last year, reports the Wall Street Journal . It seems that a USDA inspection turned up three instances of salmonella Heidelberg at...