Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
Food Safety
Consumers Union Documents
- Why GE foods should be Labeled: Inadequate Regulations, Unanswered Safety Questions
- CU comments to the FDA on GE salmon environmental impact
Consumers Union (CU) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Draft Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) Concerning a Genetically Engineered (GE) Atlantic Salmon. For reasons articulated below, we strongly urge FDA not to approve the application for AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage Salmon (AAS) at this time and Continue Reading
- Comments to the USDA regarding Country of Origin Labeling of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken
In January of 2009, USDA published a final rule on COOL that covered Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, Goat Meat, Wild and Farm-Raised Fish and Shellfish, Perishable Agricultural Commodities, Peanuts, Pecans, Ginseng, and Macadamia Nuts. Almost immediately, a number of countries challenged the COOL requirements for muscle cut meat commodities, saying that the US COOL regulations discriminated against the importing country’s product.
- CU letter to FDA to revoke approval for use of ractopamine in pork
FDA should prohibit the use of antibiotics in livestock except for treatment of disease
- CU letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack regarding pork safety
CU informs the USDA of new findings on pathogens in pork products appearing in the January 2013 issue of CR
- The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health
Experts weigh in on the connection between antibiotic use in animals and the loss of effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine
- CU letter to USDA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- CU letter to the EPA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- CU letter to the FDA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- State laws on BPA
Tens of thousands of you joined our national campaign to get the harmful chemical bisphenol A out of children’s products–and your work is having a huge impact! Eleven states have now passed bans on BPA in certain children’s food and drink containers, and bills have been introduced in Congress to do the same nationally. Some Continue Reading
Press Releases
- CU hails historic Vermont house vote on labeling GE food
Vermont’s historic vote is a major victory for consumer demand for the labeling of genetically engineered food
- Consumers Union Applauds Senate Bill to Boost Data on Use of Antibiotics in Meat
A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would help the FDA study the use of antimicrobial drugs in food producing animals
- Ad in LA Times Urges Trader Joe’s to Stop Selling Meat Raised on Antibiotics
Ad highlights how the overuse of antibiotics in livestock is promoting the spread of drug resistant superbugs that threaten public health.
- CU urges Congress to stop superbugs and make ground turkey safer
Consumers Union is also asking members of Congress to support legislation that would address these issues
- Nearly 2 million people tell FDA not to approve GE salmon
Over 1.8 million people sent comments vehemently opposing the approval of a genetically engineered salmon by the FDA
- Consumer Reports: Bacteria on turkey raised without antibiotics showed significantly less antibiotic resistance than bacteria on conventional turkey
Ninety percent of samples had one or more of the five bacteria for which CR tested
- Organic Board Decision a Victory for Organics, Preservation of Antibiotics
National Organic Standards Board votes to discontinue use of antibiotics in organic apple & pear production.
- CU urges National Organic Standards Board to discontinue use of antibiotics in organic apple, pear production
Poll: More than 80 percent don’t know or don’t think antibiotics used to treat disease in apple, pears
- Meat Without Drugs campaign heads to Davis, CA Trader Joe’s
The campaign aims to convince the grocer to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics.
- Top grocery stores: We won’t sell genetically engineered seafood
Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, Marsh among stores that will reject GE fish
Blog Posts
- Loyal, misinformed employees defend Trader Joe’s on Facebook
Trader Joe’s employees are a loyal bunch, so much so that many believe their beloved Joe can do no wrong. So when a group of workers saw our Facebook post last week asking the company to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics, the response was … notable. Getting past the name calling (and some colorful Continue Reading
- Trader Joe’s responds on antibiotics issue, but still no commitment
In response to hundreds of calls Trader Joe’s headquarters has been getting from customers asking them to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics, the company has issued a statement on their website. “We don’t presume to make choices for [customers],” it says, and points to some options shoppers have in their stores of organic and Continue Reading
- Say it Ain’t So, Trader Joe
For a company that says it listens to its customers, sometimes Trader Joe’s can be hard to reach. And for a friendly ‘neighborhood grocery store,’ sometimes they’re not so friendly when you actually do. For almost a year, Consumers Union has been trying by various means to start a dialogue with the grocery chain on Continue Reading
- LA Times ad urges Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat raised on anitibiotics
Pick up a copy of the LA Times today? If so, you probably saw this ad urging Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics. It’s an ask that’s been made many times – in many ways – over the past year by hundreds of thousands of you, but so far Trader Joe’s isn’t listening. Continue Reading
- Consumer Reports turkey tests find fewer superbugs in ‘no antibiotics’ meat samples
The meat industry wants us to believe that routinely feeding antibiotics to animals is nothing to worry about. But a new investigation from Consumer Reports found plenty of reasons to be concerned. The study analyzed 257 samples of both conventional and ‘no antibiotics’ ground turkey from supermarket shelves and found widespread bacterial contamination. But the bacteria in Continue Reading
- (Super)Moms, chefs, docs fight overuse of antibiotics in livestock in D.C.
Danielle Wadsworth thought nothing of the ground beef she cooked up one night to make tacos for dinner. But several days later, quarantined in the hospital fighting for her life, she was told that she was sickened by Salmonella typhmurium, an antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella that was later traced to the beef she’d eaten. Today, Continue Reading
- More evidence shows animals spread antibiotic-resistant infections to humans
Evidence of the passing of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant infection MRSA from animals to humans just grew stronger according to a new study out of the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge scientists, using DNA fingerprinting, matched MRSA superbugs in two different people to MRSA in the cows and sheep on the farms where they lived. Continue Reading
- Country of Origin Labels Need Your Support
Do you like knowing where your beef, chicken and fish comes from? We do. Had some New Zealand lamb that was especially tasty and want to try it again? Or perhaps you veer away from shrimp from Vietnam, knowing they allow a lot more drugs on their fish farms than we do. Country of Origin Continue Reading
- Grocery Retailers Rule Out Sale of Genetically Engineered Salmon
Genetically engineered salmon could soon be on its way to your local grocery store – but you won’t find it at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Aldi. These grocers are among the first to pledge not to sell the genetically modified fish if it is approved by the FDA for market. Several smaller chains, including Continue Reading
- Congress introduces bill to curb antibiotics in food animals
Recently the CDC raised the alarm about antibiotic resistant bacteria (superbugs) and the implications they have on public health in the United States. A report from Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control, warned that “our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections.” Citing the connection Continue Reading
News Articles
- Vermont House of Representatives gives green light to GMO labeling bill Source: Food Navigator (Friday May 10, 2013)
- Study Finds an Increase in Arsenic Levels in Chicken Source: New York Times (Saturday May 11, 2013)
- Regulate the use of antibiotics on farm animals Source: Denver Post (Thursday May 9, 2013)
- Antibiotics used in livestock lead to superbugs Source: Poughkeepsie Journal (Tuesday May 7, 2013)
- Foreign Food Inspections on Decline as Illnesses From Imported Goods Rise Source: New York Times (Tuesday May 7, 2013)
- Trader Joe's targeted for meat with antibiotics, candy with lead Source: LA Times (Friday May 3, 2013)
- Consumers Union Ad Urges Trader Joe's to Help Curb A Major Public Health Crisis Source: Yahoo News (Thursday May 2, 2013)
- Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs Turn Up Again In Turkey Meat Source: NPR - The Salt (Wednesday May 1, 2013)
- Ground turkey caution due to bacteria Source: ABC News (Tuesday April 30, 2013)
- Consumers Union: 'Superbugs' in livestock becoming 'national health crisis' Source: The Hill (Tuesday April 30, 2013)