Food covered in film

January 13 marked the DVD release of Our Daily Bread, an award-winning, head-spinning, at times stomach-churning glimpse at the mechanics of industrial food processing. Director Nikolaus Geyrhalter doesn’t editorialize, but lets the images speak for themselves. For 90 minutes, Our Daily Bread simply shows of vast machines and bored human operators raising produce and harvesting livestock. You’d think Our Daily Bread would be as exciting as watching vegetables ripen, but it’s a weirdly engrossing experience. There’s always something happening in Geyrhalter’s artfully arranged shots.

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Melamine in baby food sold in United States

Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 27, 2008; A02Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration yesterday for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States.

"This FDA, the Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're talking about babies, about the most vulnerable. This really makes me angry.

"The FDA found melamine and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in samples of baby formula made by major U.S. manufacturers. Melamine can cause kidney and bladder stones and, in worst cases, kidney failure and death. If melamine and cyanuric acid combine, they can form round yellow crystals that can also damage kidneys and destroy renal function.

Food companies work to ensure safety from salmonella

As the list of food suspected of salmonella contamination continues to grow, food safety experts recounting a similar outbreak two years ago are asking why some lessons from the past have not been universally learned.

In February 2007, the industry giant ConAgra Foods of Omaha, Neb., recalled thousands of jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter because tests revealed salmonella contamination. The product had been shipped to all 50 states and 60 foreign countries. The bacterial problem was traced to a ConAgra peanut-processing plant in Sylvester, Ga.

In response, ConAgra remodeled the entire plant, separating the areas for raw peanuts from finished peanut butter and paste, which must remain sterile. With the source so difficult to trace, that was the safest way to assure it didn't happen again, experts said. No ConAgra products are named in the current outbreak.

Food Processors Ahoy... Read more click headline...