Paul Patterson
Professor of Poultry Science
Penn State University
For those readers who have been following the news about eggs and salmonella, here is a very informative Op-Ed article written by Dr. Patterson that was published online in the New York Times on August 25. Read the rest of this entry »
Terry D. Etherton
I never cease to be amazed at the political process in Europe that keeps hindering adoption of safe and effective ag biotechnologies. The latest folly occurred on July 7, 2010 when Members of the European Parliament (MEP) renewed their appeal for a ban on food from cloned animals when they voted on novel foods legislation. At this time, there are no European Union (EU) rules to specifically allow or ban dairy products and meat from cloned animals. While the Commission and Council wanted to have cloned meat covered by novel food rules that are already in place, MEPs instead called for new legislation to expressly prohibit the sale of meat from cloned animals and their descendants.
This decision is astonishing given that in July 2008 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced its final scientific opinion that food from cloned cattle and pigs is safe, and there are no implications of animal cloning on the environment!
As I have written in previous blogs, this is another EU decision that is based on politics not science – more of the Luddites at the Gate phenomena that I have written about previously! Read the rest of this entry »
A ProMed-mail post (September 16, 2009)
DNA test results and other evidence have now established that an outbreak of illness involving at least 35 people, the majority children and teens, was linked to drinking unpasteurized milk. Wisconsin food safety officials are cautioning consumers not to drink raw milk and farmers not to sell it to the public.
“Laws requiring pasteurization of milk have been on the books for more than half a century, and there are good public health reasons for that,” said Steve Ingham, head of the Food Safety Division in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection [DATCP]. Read the rest of this entry »
