Avian Flu ravaged industrial poultry farms this year, especially in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In all, about 200 farms in 15 states were affected by this year’s outbreak, costing U.S. egg and poultry exporters more than $380 million, said the Poultry & Egg Export Council.
The outbreak was no picnic for the birds, either. In Iowa, 30 million hens and 1.5 million turkeys were euthanized because of the H5N2 virus. Nationwide, the flu killed about 50 million birds
Avian Flu affects poultry farm workers, who lose their jobs. And consumers, who pay more for eggs.
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La Jolla, Calif.—The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) today delivered 17,000 signatures to members of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) urging the Board to phase out the use of synthetic methionine in poultry feed. The signatures were delivered along with testimony on the issue.
The feed additive, which acts as a growth promoter, is only given to poultry
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Organic stakeholders have filed a lawsuit in federal court, maintaining that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the federal rulemaking process when it changed established procedures for reviewing the potential hazards and need for allowed synthetic and prohibited natural substances used in producing organic food. A coalition of 15 organic food producers and farmer, consumer, environmental, and certification groups asked the court to require USDA to reconsider its decision on the rule change and reinstitute the agency's customary public hearing and comment process.
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When it comes to organic certification, food producers must follow strict guidelines.
For an organic steak, for instance, the cow it came from has to be raised on organic feed, and the feed mix can't be produced with pesticides, chemical fertilizers or genetic engineering.
Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a set of rules for organic farmed fish. Several consumer groups, though, say the recommended rules don't go far enough to meet the strict standards of other organic foods.
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In 2013, Miles McEvoy, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) director, unlawfully suspended the Organic Food Production Act's (OFPA) Sunset Provision. In doing so, he unilaterally changed the way the NOSB conducts its 5-year review of National List substances. Instead of a two-thirds decisive vote of 10 out of the 15 members of the NOSB being needed to renew an exemption for non-organic or synthetic substance, he decided that a vote of six out of 10 NOSB members would be enough.
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