WASHINGTON -- International Meat Co., Inc., a Chicago, Ill., establishment is recalling approximately 6,152 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The products subject to recall include: [View Labels, PDF Only]

LUXEMBOURG -- Slaughterhouses across the European Union will have to change the way they stun and kill millions of cattle, pigs and poultry after farm ministers agreed on Monday to tighten the rules and improve animal protection. Every year, nearly 360 million pigs, sheep, goats and cattle and several billion turkeys and chickens are killed in the EU for their meat.

Ohio legislators are moving forward with the backing of Gov. Ted Strickland and major agricultural groups to create a new state board that governs livestock and poultry practices.

The sustainability of fisheries depends on the transparency with which coastal states incorporate scientific advice into policies, reports a study led by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and published in the journal PLoS Biology.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2009/06/22/9887556.html http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2009/06/articles/e-coli/ontario-e-coli-outbreak-likely-caused-by-spanish-onions-235-sickened/index.html Spanish onions are believed to be the cause of why more than 200 people became sick with E. coli after eating at a local Harvey's restaurant.

Thiruvananthapuram -- Over 100 children of the Sri Ayyankali Memorial Residential Sports School at Vellayani, aged between 9 and 18, were hospitalised late on Sunday evening with symptoms of food poisoning. About 39 children were admitted to the Medical College Hospital and some at the General Hospital.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Some 60 barangays in 15 towns of Pampanga were affected by the Porcine Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) virus that killed at least 700 pigs out of the 3,138 animals in the province and affected 170 farmers.

Athens, Ga. -- University of Georgia researchers have developed a successful way to grow molecular wire brushes that conduct electrical charges, a first step in developing biological fuel cells that could power pacemakers, cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs. The journal Chemical Science calls the technique “a significant breakthrough for nanotechnology.”

Is E. coli O157:H7 associated with things other than feedlot cattle? I had a few people call me recently, saying, I saw that movie, Food Inc., which says that E. coli O157:H7 is predominately in feedlot cattle because of the grain they are fed, and that’s how the bug came to exist. So how did it get into Nestle cookie dough?