chickens in a barn

Mozart and mood lighting, a healthy prescription for chickens?

Combined with probiotics, it all adds up to a reduced need for drugs

In barns filled with classical music and lighting that changes to match the hues outside, rows of chickens are fed a diet rich in probiotics, a regimen designed to remove the need for the drugs and chemicals that have tainted the global food chain. As food giants face growing pressure to offer healthier produce, Southeast

Supply management is in trouble

Good news. Canada is joining talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will open lucrative new trade opportunities — if we give up supply management. Or so you’d think by reading national newspapers these days. Ever since Canadian participation in the TPP talks was announced last month, columnists in the Globe and Mail and National Post


Dairy and poultry farmers slam critical report by prominent Liberal

But Liberal leadership prospect Martha Hall Findlay says poultry and 
dairy farmers have limited political clout and can safely be ignored

As soon as the announcement appeared that former Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay would release a report critical of supply management, well-worn wheels were set in motion. The marketing boards prepared their defences while newspaper columnists and open-market supporters readied their supportive arguments. The news conference in the Chateau Laurier, a floor up from where



CFIA applies new rules to food importers

Two years after admitting that it didn’t have a registry of food importers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is finally proposing to introduce a licensing regime for the estimated 25,000 businesses, which bring foreign-made food or beverages into Canada. The government announced a Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan in 2007, which was to include measures

China imports dairy cows

China is importing more dairy cows to try and beef up its transition to larger-scale farms, as the industry attempts to boost production and quality following a deadly scandal. China plans to nearly double milk production to 64 million tonnes by 2020, as part of a long-term plan by the Ministry of Agriculture to improve


China Urges Tougher Punishments For Food Safety Crimes

China’s courts have been ordered to increase the severity of punishments for food safety crimes, including capital punishment for cases that lead to fatalities, Xinhua news agency reported. The court’s directive appeared to be the latest move to regain public confidence after a series of food safety scandals, including the most serious recent case in

CFIA Launches Review Of Imported Food Safety – for Sep. 16, 2010

Along-delayed bid to level the playing field and better protect Canadians from unsafe imported foods is being revived. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has launched a consultation with industry players and the general public to develop a set of principles that will be the foundation of new regulations for some imported foods. The government has


Melamine Scandal Resurfaces In China

China has arrested three more people for dealing in milk and milk powder tainted with melamine, a compound used in plastics and fertilizer that caused a massive food safety scandal last year, the Xinhua news agency said. The tainted milk powder dates to mid-2008 but was sold to dairy firms and food companies in late

China Introduces New Food Safety Law

China said March 2 that food security remains “grim” after a series of health scandals, the most recent being last year’s tainted milk formula that killed at least six toddlers and made almost 300,000 sick. A new food safety law, approved Feb. 28 in an accelerated process after the milk scandal came to light in