USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) announced this week it awarded contracts to two companies to manufacture doses of avian influenza vaccine.

President Obama has signed a measure reauthorizing the Livestock Mandatory Reporting law, which requires meat packers to report to USDA the prices they pay for cattle, hogs and lambs.

 Food loss in the US accounts for approximately 31 percent of the overall food supply available to retailers and consumers. 

Pork processing, like any live protein processing, is not a nice environment for humans or machines.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a report on planning and preparations for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in advance of a potential recurrence of the disease when birds migrate south this fall. 

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg announced the first-ever national food waste goal, calling for a 50-percent reduction in waste by 2030.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has posted revisions to 33 fresh fruit and vegetable grade standards, ten fresh fruit and vegetable for processing grade standards, and three nut and specialty crops grade standards.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold full committee and subcommittees meetings on Sept. 9-11.

Holten Meat Inc. of Sauget, IL has issued a recall for approximately 501,509 pounds of Extra Value Meats Quarter Pound Beef Patties products due to misbranding, according to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

Last week USDA approved a genetically engineered potato by J.R. Simplot Co. that is designed for late blight resistance, low acrylamide potential, reduced black spot bruising and lowered reducing sugars.