Three more lawsuits have been filed against the owners of a Milan, Ill., McDonald's where several customers contracted hepatitis A this summer. The lawsuits were filed by the Rock Island law firm of Michael Warner J. Warner and Associates in Rock Island County Circuit Court. They each name JKLM, Inc., the franchise owner, as a defendant.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- A series of trade restrictions on Canadian farm products this year has ratcheted up the pressure on farmers, many of whom say the barriers reflect protectionism rather than genuine concern over food safety.

With infection rates rising and the H1N1 vaccine in short supply, this Halloween comes with the added scare of swine flu - and Baltimore-area parents find themselves balancing the fun of a favorite holiday with worries about keeping kids healthy.

The first hard winter wheat varieties bred and developed for production in the eastern United States have been released by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). NuEast, a hard red winter wheat, and Appalachian White, a hard white winter wheat, were bred by ARS plant pathologist and geneticist David Marshall, research leader of the Plant Science Research Unit in Raleigh, N.C.

CINCINNATI -- Kroger's new line of its own fresh salads includes new technology on the packaging that enables customers to learn where the produce was grown as part of Kroger's "Quality You Can Trace"(SM) program.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Some American colleagues have said killing 22 customers with deli-meat would have led to a non-existent company. Not so in Canada, where $5.5 billion companies like Maple Leaf Foods can say with a straight face that listeria presented new challenges in the ready-to-eat food category.

Government and trade officials are down-playing any likelihood of trade impacts after confirmation that a prion illness, atypical scrapie, occurs in New Zealand sheep. It is the first confirmed case of a prion disease in New Zealand farm animals since 119 sheep flocks were culled 50 years ago to eradicate an incursion of classical scrapie.

CSIRO researchers have identified wheat and barley lines resistant to Crown Rot – a disease that costs Australian wheat and barley farmers $79 million in lost yield every year. Crown Rot, which is a chronic problem throughout the Australian wheat belt, is caused by the fungus Fusarium.