Livestock Antibiotics, Haggis, and the Bear Facts

Folks used to sit on the porch shootin’ the breeze. For many, now the porch is a cubicle and the breeze is digital. These are a few of the stories floating around our cyber porch today.

**  Livestock and Antibiotics:  The American Medical Association (AMA) is calling for federal action to ban antibiotic use in food animals for growth promotion purposes so as to slow the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

Note: This peer-reviewed CAST publication looks at antibiotic use and other animal health issues. The Direct Relationship between Animal Health and Food Safety Outcomes


**  Haggis on the Menu?  The British government has dispatched its Environment Secretary to Washington to try and convince the Obama administration to lift a 43-year-old ban on importing haggis. Haggis, the Scottish delicacy consisting of a sheep's heart, lungs, and liver simmered with onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices in a sausage casing -- or sheep's stomach for the traditionalists  

**  Food Fears:  Many consumers have found food ingredients and products the subject of their food nightmares. But according to a new study, educators and industry can combat ingredient-based fears if they effectively communicate the substances' history, background, and general usage.

Note: This science-based Issue Paper from CAST examines GMO food labeling--The Potential Impacts of Mandatory Labeling for Genetically Engineered Food in the United States.

**  Crashing the Party: A young bear fell through an Alaska couple's skylight while they were preparing to celebrate their child's birthday, sending the humans scurrying out the room while he feasted on cupcakes.

Note: The Zen of Bears Blog--I'd Rather Be a Bear in a Hammock than a Bear in a Cage.

by dan gogerty  (cattle pic from ars; bear pic from rendezvousblogs.nytimes) 

Cyber Porch--Word Wars, Pollinators, and Anything on a Stick

Folks used to sit on the porch shootin’ the breeze. For many, now the porch is a cubicle and the breeze is digital. These are a few of the stories floating around our cyber porch today. 

This Could Blow Your Diet:  A Brownie Blitz includes cream cheese, brownie bits, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and coconut. This is but one new entry coming in August to the “foodpalooza” known as the Iowa State Fair. Other new entries include a Smoked Brisket with Mac N Cheese and Funnel Cake Sticks. Zombie Cones and Jumbo Toasted Marshmallows On-a-Stick did not make the cut. Almost anything else on a stick is available—including a Caprese salad.

Ban "Natural"? A War of Words:  Apparently many consumers believe that "natural" products are better and healthier than others but are often confused about what the label actually means. As this video shows, Consumer Reports is launching a campaign to ban the term, claiming it confuses and misleads shoppers.

The Buzz out of the White House:  As part of the strategy coming from National Pollinator Week, the White House is directing the USDA to develop best management practices to enhance pollinator habitat on federal lands and use the department's conservation programs to increase the acreage and forage value of pollinator habitat.

Do They Know Where This Pig's Nose Has Been?  This article discusses how human beings are the home of many microorganisms. It claims around 1,000 trillion are right now living, replicating, and even dying on the surface of your skin, on your tongue, and inside your intestines. OK—and I like hogs just fine—but the photo they use of the child smooching with a pig still gives me the willies. 

by dan gogerty (top photo from kbur.com, bottom from lumibyte.eu)

Cyber Porch Buzz--from Congress, Killer Bees, and More

Folks used to sit on the porch shootin’ the breeze. For many now, the porch is a cubicle and the breeze is digital. These are a few of the stories floating around our cyber porch today. 

Hornets’ Nest in Congress:  Members of a House Agriculture subcommittee from both parties had a heated exchange with a top USDA official over the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal for defining exactly what falls under the agency's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The Sting:  Two horses are dead after being swarmed by bees in Texas. Apparently the horses had probably been stung thousands of times and were euthanized at the scene.

Whoops:  On Friday the 13^th, bioterrorism researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia discovered they had mistakenly sent live anthrax virus out to fellow scientists in two lower-security clearance labs at the agency.

Surf’s Up:  To cool off from the week's hot news, join more than 100 dolphins taking a break from teaching the young ones to fish--instead they do a bit of surfing off the coast of West Australia. 

 

  (photo from dailymail.co.uk)

 

Cyber Porch--Oz with the Curtain Pulled Back & More News

Folks used to sit on the porch shootin’ the breeze. For many now, the porch is a cubicle and the breeze is digital. These are a few of the stories floating around our cyber porch today. 

UPDATE June 18-- Dr. Oz Gets Scolding from Sen. McCaskill

Under pressure from Congress, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday offered to help "drain the swamp" of unscrupulous marketers using his name to peddle so-called miracle pills and cure-alls to millions of Americans desperate to lose weight. Oz appeared before the Senate's consumer protection panel and was scolded by Chairman Claire McCaskill for claims he made about weight-loss aids on his TV show, "The Dr. Oz Show."

Think Your Commute Is Tough? The collective noun for a lot of ducks can be flock, raft, team, paddling, and several others. This video shows a commuter in Asia caught in a tidal wave of ducks.


June 17 Cyber Porch News

*** Slimed No More?  Sales of a treated ground beef product that critics derisively dubbed "pink slime" have rebounded, according to two of its manufacturers. Lean Finely Textured Beef is still controversial--and a major lawsuit is looming. We continue to think Shakespeare had this issue sorted out--it's all in the name, as this blog explains: Would Finely Textured Beef by Any Other Name Taste the Same? 


*** Banana Benders:  A super-enriched banana genetically engineered to improve the lives of millions of people in Africa will soon have its first human trial, which will test its effect on vitamin A levels, Australian researchers say. 

***  How Do You Say "Hold the Anchovies" in App-Speak?  Domino’s Pizza launches a new voice ordering feature in its iPhone and Android apps that features a voice speech recognition, speech synthesis, and natural language understanding technology. The company says the feature will provide “a human-like, conversational customer service experience that allows users to speak an order and quickly add items to their cart.”  The food industry is changing rapidly from 3-D printing to new forms of delivery. But this blog explains that it has been evolving for a long time, and a pizza app back in 1975 might have needed to know the phrase "hold the embalming fluid." 

from dan gogerty (photos from ars/usda)