Tag: grains

  • GAO Issues Food Safety Reports for Arsenic and Pathogens

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced new food safety recommendations for managing the risk of arsenic in rice and efforts to reduce pathogens in meat and poultry products. Following a request to review issues related to arsenic in rice, GAO determined that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not updated its…

  • Plaintiff Alleges “Ancient Grains” Snack Mostly Made of Rice and Peas

    MJS America LLC, maker of “Majans Bhuja Snacks,” faces a putative class action alleging that the primary ingredients of its “Ancient Grains Twists” are rice, peas, tapioca and sunflower or canola oil rather than ancient grains. Louis v. MJS America LLC, No. 18-1046 (E.D.N.Y., filed February 18, 2018). The plaintiff asserts that she paid a…

  • Issues Narrowed in Texas Bellwether GM Rice Contamination Cases

    A multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Missouri has issued a number of rulings on motions for summary judgment and to exclude or limit expert testimony in the bellwether cases involving Texas rice farmers who allege that contamination of the U.S. rice supply with genetically modified (GM) rice caused a precipitous decline in prices for their…

  • GM Crops Provoke Passions in Italian Countryside

    An Italian agronomist, frustrated by the government’s refusal to approve the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops, has apparently engaged in an act of civil disobedience by planting two fields of GM corn and publicizing his action with a news conference and YouTube® video. Environmentalists reportedly responded by descending on the fields near Vivaro, which…

  • Feral GM Canola Found in North Dakota

    Researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency, University of Arkansas and University of California, Fresno, have reportedly identified populations of genetically modified (GM) canola growing wild in North Dakota. According to results presented at the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA’s) 95th Annual Meeting, scientists found that 347 of the 406 plants collected from roadsides contained either…

  • American Farm Bureau Censures EU for GM Crop Moratorium

    The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFB) has issued a policy statement urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to “initiate a retaliation process” against the European Union over its de facto moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops. Despite a 2006 World Trade Organization ruling that found fault with EU approval procedures for GM…

  • Louisiana Rice Farmer Awarded $.5 Million Against GM Rice Maker

    According to news sources, a St. Louis jury has awarded more than $500,000 to a Louisiana farmer who alleged that when the U.S. rice supply was contaminated in 2006 with a genetically modified (GM) crop that was somehow released from testing facilities, he lost $1.5 million due to lost sales abroad. In re: Genetically Modified Rice…

  • Enjoining GM Alfalfa Deregulation Went Too Far According to U.S. Supreme Court

    In a 7-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a district court erred in enjoining the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from even partially deregulating Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa while the agency takes steps to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S.,…