"Many who think they have food allergies actually do not. A new report, commissioned by the federal government, finds the field is rife with poorly done studies, misdiagnoses and tests that can give misleading results."

Celery tops the Environmental Working Group's 'Dirty Dozen' list of conventional produce that is most contaminated with pesticide residues

"The food industry and major business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are threatening to withdraw support for a long-pending bill to improve food safety, saying they are upset by a proposed amendment that would ban bisphenol-A, a controversial chemical, from food and beverage containers."

"With their 'guerrilla' tactics, black organic farmers are taking Malcolm X's mandate of 'by any means necessary' and turning it green. It is time, they say, to change an unhealthy paradigm."

"Researchers testing bushmeat smuggled into the U.S. have found strains of a virus in the same family as HIV, according to preliminary findings to be released Wednesday."

"The National Organic Program's failure to promptly follow through on investigations has allowed some companies to continue falsely advertising products as organic for years and let one company off the hook entirely, according to an audit released yesterday by the inspector general of the U.S. Agriculture Department."

"The company at the heart of a growing recall of processed foods knew that its plant was contaminated with salmonella but continued to make a flavoring and sell it to foodmakers around the country, according to inspectors at the Food and Drug Administration."

"People who take certain brands of fish oil supplements, seeking benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids are also exposing themselves to unnecessarily high levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, newly released test results show."

"Food-borne illnesses, such as E. coli and salmonella, cost the United States $152 billion annually in health care and other losses, according to a report released Wednesday by a food safety group."

"Researchers have found low levels of the toxic chemical C8 in a wide variety of foods, ranging from hamburgers and bacon to tilapia, olive oil and peanut butter, according to a new scientific paper."

The Environment Report's series on food and health focuses on the seemingly addictive qualities of sugar, fat, and salt, and the way some advertisers focus on children.

"Calls from consumer advocates and politicians are growing louder for the Obama administration to name an undersecretary for food safety at the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, a position unfilled for more than a year."

"Consumers who thought they were buying antibiotic-free chicken could receive $5 million in cash and coupons under a proposed settlement to a lawsuit contending that the nation's largest poultry producer falsely promoted its birds as being raised without drugs."

"Consumers of California wine easily can tell a red cabernet from a white chardonnay, and soon they will have a tool to determine whether it's green."
 

As Congress moves ahead with legislation to beef up federal regulation of food safety, the Obama administration has appointed Michael Taylor to head the food safety effort at the Food and Drug Administration.