Recently in Food Safety Category

Industrialization and globalization has led to major changes in agri-food systems, particularly in the way food is produced, where it is sourced and how it is distributed. There have been pros and cons to those changes. While it means we have increased varieties of produce to choose from - nectarines from Chile, bananas from Ecuador, avocados from Costa Rica - we have also had increased incidences of food contamination - salmonella, E. coli, listeriosis. This has led to consumers taking a vested interest in where and how the food they eat is grown. There has been a growing emphasis on sourcing locally grown food to achieve a perceived "quality control" for consumers as well as fair pricing and treatment for producers.

In the 2002 Farm Bill, the United States introduced country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for various commodities. COOL implementation has twice been delayed, but it will now come into effect on September 30, 2008 based on the revisions outlined in the 2008 Farm Bill. The U.S. government argues that COOL will deal with unfair competition, enhance food security, and address information gaps that consumers have about food (Library of Parliament 2003). However, the list of exemptions for the so-called mandatory regulation results in a great deal of food not having to carry country-of-origin labeling.