In the two months since Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill (SB) 21-079 to deregulate direct to consumer meat sales, there’s not been any sign of a new industry taking off.  Work on writing rules and drafting animal share agreements may be holding things up. Polis, a “Food Freedom” advocate since his days representing Colorado in Congress, signed the “Ranch to Plate Act” on April 29 and the new law became immediately effective with…

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has dropped criminal action against meat supplier Russell Hume because of a “technical legal error” made during the investigation. The investigation into the meat supplier began in January 2018 because of food hygiene issues. The firm went into administration with up to 300 jobs lost shortly afterward. At the time, Russell Hume officials said the regulator’s actions had been “out of proportion to the concerns identified.” Action followed a routine…

A group of researchers estimates that infections from antibiotic-resistant strains of non-typhoidal Salmonella have increased 40 percent, based on statistics from 2004-2008 compared with numbers from 2015-2016. “Clinically important resistance” to ampicillin or ceftriaxone or nonsusceptibility to ciprofloxacin were found while examining an estimated 220,000 infections in 2015-2016 compared with an estimated 159,000 infections in 2004-2008, according to the researchers’ report published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. “Salmonella is a major cause of foodborne…

Hundreds of people, mostly children, have been sickened in what officials believe is a foodborne outbreak in the city of Toyama, Japan. Multiple media outlets including nippon.com and Food World are reporting what they describe as a mass food poisoning event. Sick people have developed symptoms in line with food poisoning, including diarrhea, stomachache, vomiting and fever. As of June 17, 391 students and staff at 13 elementary and junior high schools as well as…

Federal Judge Edward G. Smith Wednesday found farmer Amos Miller in contempt of court in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The judge is discussing with counsel how to resolve the issue of sanctions for the seller of unpasteurized, raw milk and uninspected meat and poultry products. Miller is the owner of Miller’s Organic Farm in Upper LeacockTownship.    He’s long resisted federal food safety laws, recently saying his actions are intended…

Health officials in Idaho are seeing an increase of Campylobacter illnesses they say are often associated with unpasteurized, raw milk. Eastern Idaho Public Health issued a public notice reminding consumers of “inherent risks” of consuming unpasteurized, raw milk and raw milk products such as cheese and yogurt. “Consuming raw, unpasteurized dairy products increase the risk of foodborne illnesses including Campylobacter, E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria,” according to the department’s notice.  “Providing raw dairy products to…

Six people in Norway have fallen ill in recent months with the source of infection thought to be contaminated raw milk cheese from France. The foodborne outbreak was suspected to be caused by Salmonella Dublin in chilled cheese made with unpasteurized milk. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseinstituttet) investigated the outbreak with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) and Norwegian Veterinary Institute. Link made in patient interviews Early this year, Norwegian officials detected a…