public health
Lawsuit seeks ban of widely used insecticide
Eleven environmental, labor, and medical groups filed suit in a U.S. appeals court in California on Wednesday to ban use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. It was the second time the groups have sought to force the EPA to ban the widely used organophosphate pesticide.
Missouri bill that would end local control of CAFOs heads to governor’s desk
A bill in Missouri that would eliminate local regulation of CAFOs has passed in the state Senate and House and is headed to the desk of Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it into law. Opponents of the bill say it favors the interests of the largest livestock farms while exposing communities to greater health and environmental risks.
While EPA ponders, California will ban insecticide chlorpyrifos
California environmental regulators announced on Wednesday that the state will prohibit use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, a process that could take two years to complete. Even as California acted, the U.S. EPA was facing a court-imposed deadline of mid-July to decide on a federal ban of the pesticide.
Corn sweetener loses its luster, and its customers
A brawl between brewers over a Super Bowl ad last winter was not just a market-share battle between beer-making giants. It also offered a revealing look the reduced role corn sweeteners are playing in the food and beverage industry. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Bill would ban chlorpyrifos residues in school meals
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, announced a bill on Wednesday to effectively ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos from school food.
Congress moving slowly on child nutrition reauthorization
Although key lawmakers in the House and Senate support an update of U.S. child nutrition programs, headlined by school lunch and WIC, the timeline for those updates is unclear. “If we can’t go forward, we’ll wait,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow on Thursday, in a reference to disputes over school food standards.
Breakfast in classrooms, universal access boost school breakfast count
Breakfast participation rates at U.S. schools rose in the 2017-18 school year, and a report issued Wednesday by the Food Research & Action Center attributed that increase to decisions by schools to serve breakfast in classrooms and to offer meals to all pupils free of charge.
Traceability a ‘critical piece’ of the food safety network, says the FDA
In a look back at last November’s recall of romaine lettuce, the FDA says that although “one farm cannot explain the entire outbreak,” it is now able to identify potential sources of E. coli contamination by using technology that can track foods from field to consumer.
As it opens more operations, USDA relies on staff to work without pay
Federal meat inspectors are reporting to work without pay during the partial government shutdown, said an industry trade group on Wednesday, as the USDA called on 9,700 furloughed FSA employees to reopen offices nationwide today to serve farmers and ranchers.
Atrazine spikes in drinking water often go unseen, says report
Nearly 30 million Americans in 28 states “have some level of atrazine in their tap water,” says the Environmental Working Group in a report on the second-most widely used weedkiller in the country.
Rural mothers are younger, have highest fertility rates
Nationwide, women are having fewer children and waiting longer to have them than a decade ago. But one pattern is unchanged: rural women, on average, are younger when they give birth and have more children than women living in metropolitan areas, says the CDC. Indeed, the gap between urban and rural fertility rates has widened even as overall fertility rates — the expected number of births per 1,000 women — have declined.
Big Soda pours $20 million into fight against local soda taxes
In June 2017, the Seattle City Council approved a tax of 1.75 cents per ounce on sugary beverages. Now the soda industry has donated almost every dollar of the $20.2 million raised to support a statewide referendum on Nov. 6 that would prevent other cities and counties in Washington State from following Seattle’s lead.
FDA moves to name sellers of contaminated foods during worst outbreaks
If a new Food and Drug Administration draft guidance is implemented, food recall notices could begin to include the names of retailers that have sold the contaminated foods, the agency said Wednesday.
More manure lagoons in North Carolina damaged, flooded, or overflowing
Some 57 manure lagoons in North Carolina were flooded, overflowing, or structurally damaged by the heavy rains and floods caused by Hurricane Florence — an increase of 14 in a day, said the state Department of Environmental Quality on Thursday.
Florence swamps Matthew as North Carolina agriculture scourge
Twice as many livestock have died in North Carolina due to Hurricane Florence as perished in Hurricane Matthew two years ago, and more manure lagoons have been damaged or flooded, state agencies said on Wednesday.
Cities protest farm bill ban on local pesticide restrictions
In a letter to House and Senate ag leaders, officials from 60 U.S. cities have protested a House farm bill provision that would prohibit them from setting local pesticide restrictions that are tougher than the federal government’s.
A new bulge in America’s obesity epidemic
Two more states, Iowa and Oklahoma, joined the list of states where adult obesity rates are 35 percent or higher, said the annual State of Obesity report on Wednesday.
Public health experts call on farm bill conferees to reject SNAP work requirements
More than 200 health and medical professionals from across the country sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees urging the farm bill conferees to reject the House bill’s expansion of SNAP work requirements.
One mutation could make H5N1 a greater threat, researchers say
While there has been no sign of person-to-person spread of bird flu, researchers said on Thursday that a single mutation in the H5N1 avian influenza virus could enhance the virus’ ability to attach to human cells. That could potentially increase the possibility of transmission among humans, said the study, led by a team of scientists at the Scripps Research Institute.