There has never been a better time to assert your right to an informed choice in food. The FDA may be finalizing approval of genetically engineered salmon, the first GE animal for human consumption, and there is one team working hard for consumers’ rights to know. The Just Label It! Campaign is calling for support for their legal petition urging the FDA to require mandatory labeling of GE salmon and all genetically engineered foods.

]]> http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/label-it-today-gmo-salmon-up-for-fda-approval-public-scrutiny/feed/ 0 http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/dozens-of-unapproved-toxic-pesticides-found-on-fresh-cilantro/ http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/dozens-of-unapproved-toxic-pesticides-found-on-fresh-cilantro/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:00:29 +0000 Jill Ettinger http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=9369

Random USDA produce tests showed at least 34 unapproved pesticides on samples of fresh cilantro that were not removed with washing, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Citing a failure by the FDA to address the link between an overuse of antibiotics in livestock and the rise in antibiotic resistant infections in humans has led to a lawsuit filed against the agency by several environmental and animal interest groups.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted another blow to the soda industry in a petition with the FDA to ban ingredients commonly known as "caramel coloring" found in many sodas and snack food items due to the increased risk of cancer caused by these colorants.

Important nutrition facts may soon appear on the front of food labels, hopes the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, who this week announced a new labeling system called "Nutrition Keys" to make important health data that much more accessible.

Nutrition Keys, which is voluntary, asks food producers to display calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar content on the front of food packages; currently nutrition facts appear on the back of most food products.

Trans fats have been at the center of heated debates for some time—receiving even more scrutiny in the last decade as cases of childhood obesity, hypertension and heart disease are rising significantly. In a recently published article in the American Journal of Health Promotion, Eric Brandt of the Case Western University School of Medicine seeks stricter FDA guidelines on this deadly ingredient, which under current regulations can be deceptively mislabeled.

In 1976, M&M candies discontinued their "Red M" amidst concerns over the potentially fatal risk of red food coloring that contained amaranth (in FD&C Red #2), suspected as being cancer-causing. Though M&M did not use this dye in the product pulled from store shelves, fears about red-dyed foods were so heightened, the red-colored candy did not return for more than a decade.

Remember Galt, IA-based Wright County Egg—the key factory farm involved in August’s recall of 500,000 eggs after a multistate salmonella outbreak? The company whose owner, Austin “Jack” DeCoster, was called a corporate criminal by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich?

After the recall, DeCoster was required to outline corrective actions in a formal letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Not surprisingly, the agency has found his proposed measures to be sorely lacking. Kansas City District Director John W. Thorsky has sent DeCoster a warning letter that requires “prompt and aggressive actions” to correct a host of unresolved problems. If DeCoster fails to comply, the FDA can enjoin his company from selling eggs or seize the foul farm.

We have two new recalls to announce. While the involved products are not organic, you may have purchased them.

Pats Exotic Vegetable Beverages

Bronx, NY-based Pats Exotic Beverages is recalling all packages of its Carrot Juice, Carrot Beet, Carrot Lime and Cucumber beverages because they were inadequately processed and may contain foodborne pathogens.