Tag: grain

  • Organic Industry Watchdog Challenges Ethics and Accuracy of Bread Marketing Claims

    The Cornucopia Institute has written to the CEOs of Sara Lee and National Public Radio to express its concerns with the marketing campaign for Sara Lee’s EarthGrains® products. In its February 22, 2010, letter, the institute refers to a study it made of the claims and calls for Sara Lee to “immediately suspend promotional activities…

  • APHIS Extends Comment Period on GM Alfalfa

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has extended until March 3, 2010, the comment period for a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for genetically modified (GM) alfalfa. APHIS made an EIS available on January 12, 2010, after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the agency violated the National…

  • Western Australia Approves GM Canola

    The state government of Western Australia (WA) recently announced its decisionto allow the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) canola within the region as of this year. State Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman reportedly signed the exemption order under the Genetically Modified Crops Free Areas Act of 2003, thus permitting WA farmers to grow GM…

  • OSHA to Address Combustible Dust Workplace Hazards

    The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a series of stakeholder meetings intended to address the “views, concerns, and issues surrounding the hazards of combustible dust,” which may be formed in agricultural and grain-handling workplaces and factories that manufacture food, animal food, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. For the February 17,…

  • U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Consider GM Alfalfa Seed Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision enjoining the sale and planting of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa seed until the government completes an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the crop’s proposed delisting. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., certiorari granted January…

  • APHIS Issues Federal Register Notice on GM Alfalfa

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published its notice about the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for genetically modified (GM) alfalfa. The agency was required to prepare the EIS by a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling finding that APHIS violated the National Environmental…

  • Researchers Examine Effects of GM Corn on Mammalian Health

    French researchers with the Committee of Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), the University of Rouen and the University of Caen have published a paper allegedly linking genetically modified (GM) corn varieties to “new side effects” in mammals. Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, et al., “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn…

  • APHIS Prepares Draft EIS on GE Alfalfa, Public Comments Solicited

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), responding to a directive issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. The agency has preliminarily determined that granting GE alfalfa nonregulated status will have “no significant impact on the…