Consumer Federation of America

Closing a loophole, the Agriculture Department proposed on Monday to allow packages to carry the "Made in the USA" or "Product of USA" label only if the meat, poultry and eggs in them were born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States. Consumer and activist farm groups applauded the proposal while the meat industry said it may violate trade rules.

The USDA's food safety agency is considering new approaches to reduce salmonella bacteria in poultry that could include "pre-harvest interventions" on the farm, said Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary Saundra Eskin on Tuesday. "We know that most salmonella contamination enters the facility with the birds and the more we can do to reduce contamination at the point of slaughter, the less contamination and cross-contamination we have in an establishment."

Congress can reduce hunger during the pandemic by extending the 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits and providing an additional $3 billion for WIC, as suggested by President Biden, said Sen. Bob Casey to the Consumer Federation of America on Tuesday. "We have to stay on that path where we're focused on substantial investments" in public nutrition.

Organizers announced the delay of three conferences, involving dairy farmers, consumer activists and hemp entrepreneurs, because of the widening outbreak of the coronavirus on Monday. And the government said a meeting of the Dietary Guidelines advisory committee on Thursday and Friday "will move to an online-only format out of an abundance of caution in response to travel restrictions imposed by some of the members' employers."

The government proposed tougher standards on disease-causing bacteria in chicken and turkey meat, saying the result would be 50,000 fewer cases a year of food-borne illnesses.

Consumer groups fear the slow pace of rule-writing may delay until 2018 the labeling of mechanically tenderized meat, says Food Safety News.

Four consumer groups and the United Food workers union asked the White House to expedite the creation of the catfish inspection program, now six years past due.

The government revamped its poultry inspection system so USDA inspectors devote more time to preventing pathogen contamination of meat while processors have more responsibliity for finding quality defects.

Rep Jim McGovern, who opposed food stamp cuts in the 2014 farm law, says opponents are not satisfied with narrowing the connection between utility assistance and additional food stamps.

The Obama administration proposed the first overhaul of the Nutrition Facts label since it came into use in the 1990s.