Food Safety

The Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, platform is generating a lot of interest in how our food is produced. Farmers and ranchers welcome a healthy discussion — we always have.

Government inspectors documented unsanitary conditions at several Boar’s Head deli meat plants, not just the factory that was shut down last year after a deadly outbreak of listeria poisoning, federal records show.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and not all of it is good. We need to be aware of what’s going on around us, especially with the important things like our food.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminds specialty crop producers to apply for assistance for food safety certification expenses.

Before 2024 slides into history, some noteworthy farm and food updates, please, to ensure these stories go with it.

Low-moisture foods such as dried fruits, seeds, tree nuts and wheat flour were once considered to carry minimal microbial risks.

A newly formed institute at Purdue University is offering training and development support to agriculture producers with novel food and beverage product ideas.

The saga of listeria in sliced deli lunch meat continues, month after month. The list of affected items gets longer and longer as there is now an additional company subject to recalls due to listeria.

Purdue University and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are conducting a multiyear study of salmonella in southwest Indiana — a region known for its cantaloupe production.

The recent listeria outbreak in a certain brand of deli meat was most disturbing because it now makes us hesitant to purchase any brands. Listeria can, and has, caused illnesses so severe that people have died.

Indiana has one of the smallest state agriculture departments in the nation — and Don Lamb would not have it any other way.

The DeKalb County History Center is one of five organizations in the United States selected to host the “Food: Gathering Around the Table” exhibit.

We, the citizenry of these United States of America, are subject to too many regulations at the federal, state and local level.

Untreated water used by a Florida cucumber grower is one likely source of salmonella food poisoning that sickened nearly 450 people across the United States.

Bird flu has been detected in beef for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced, but officials said the meat from a single sickened dairy cow was not allowed to enter the nation’s food supply and beef remains safe to eat.

More than 4 million chickens in Iowa will have to be killed after a case of the highly pathogenic bird flu was detected at a large egg farm, the state announced.

These longer, warmer and sometimes wetter days are really giving the crops and pastures a great start. While most of my neighbors are done or close to finishing planting, we’ve just got a good start.

The Oscar-nominated documentary " Food, Inc. " helped change the way many consumers think about the systems behind the things we eat.

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a long list of bills into law at the close of the state’s 2024 General Assembly.

There are many reasons for choosing a career in agriculture.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture plans to distribute more than $545,000 over a three-year period thanks to funding allocated in the Specialty Crop Block Grant program in the federal farm bill.

Illinois Farmers Union members and supporters from across the state convened for the ILFU annual meeting.

Indiana Soybean Alliance Chair Mike Koehne promoted the benefits of U.S. soybeans to buyers in Japan and Korea. Koehne raises high oleic and food-grade soybeans, some of which are shipped to Japan.

How does a food product get put on the shelves or in the freezers of our grocery stores without benefit of inspection? Inquiring minds would like to know how that happens.

There should be no shortage of turkey at the grocery store this year, according to the National Turkey Federation.

The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program has named Amanda Stanko, a STEM and preschool teacher with Corpus Christi Catholic School in Bloomington, as the 2024 IAITC Teacher of the Year.

Five new fact sheets about food safety are now available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The resources are designed for USDA’s partners and stakeholders, including child nutrition program operators and farmers.

At the 2023 National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Annual Meeting, NASDA members adopted several policies.

The website for the Food Safety and Inspection Service arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a good place to watch for recalls and alerts.

We’ve all been hit with sticker shock lately when shopping at the grocery store. Instead of grumbling over our favorite topic — the weather — everyone is now talking about price increases for eggs, a household staple.

How many food items in your freezer, refrigerator or kitchen cabinet are on recall lists? I spotted a food recall alert on the news.

A cow that died recently on a Dutch farm tested positive for mad cow disease, the government of the Netherlands announced, in a rare case of the cattle illness that can cause a fatal brain disease in people who eat tainted beef.

Bureau County Farm Bureau will host a charcuterie board evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at 1407 N. Main St. in Princeton. The event will focus on wellness, food safety and a variety of food-related topics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed sweeping changes in the way chicken and turkey meat is processed that are intended to reduce illnesses from food contamination, but could require meat companies to make extensive changes to their operations.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is already planning for the 2023 farm bill, where the organization will advocate for 10 specific areas of agriculture.

This September is the 24th National Food Safety Education Month — a chance to focus on buying, storing, preparing and serving food safely.

It’s that time of year when severe weather can leave consumers without power for a few minutes to multiple days, in some instances. It’s incredibly frustrating to think you must discard groceries that you’ve just purchased due to a power outage.

Avian influenza continues to spread, affecting over 28 million birds in the United States so far. Chad Roy, professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane School of Medicine, answered questions about the disease during a webinar hosted by AgriSafe Network.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued updated public recommendations regarding wild birds and the EA H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza currently impacting some wild and domestic bird species.

Another 15,000 chickens and 37,000 turkeys will have to be killed after bird flu spread to two more Iowa farms, state agriculture officials announced.

Bird flu has infected two more farms in Iowa, forcing the killing of 5.3 million hens and 88,000 turkeys, officials said.

In late October, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service released its 2019 Pesticide Data Program summary. The PDP is an ongoing program wherein the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts tests of common commodities to determine to what extent that food may expose a consumer to pesticides.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, food safety was — and still is — a top priority.

Food safety is always of upmost importance, especially when a national pandemic is going on.