Top Industry News
07/30/2010 -- DiGiorno Launches New Pizza-Breadsticks Combination-- Drug Store News
DiGiorno Pizza & Breadsticks has hit the frozen food aisle of stores nationwide.
07/30/2010 -- Kellogg Profit Down 15% Amid Cereal Weakness -- The Wall Street Journal
Kellogg Co.'s second-quarter profit fell 15% as the food giant was hurt by tepid cereal sales in the U.S., more price promotions and the impact from a recent recall.
07/30/2010 -- Cloned Livestock Gain a Foothold in Europe -- The New York Times
Many Europeans recoil at the very idea of cloning animals. But a handful of breeders in Switzerland, Britain and possibly other countries have imported semen and embryos from cloned animals or their progeny from the United States, seeking to create more consistently plump and productive livestock.
07/29/2010 -- Costs For Recall Hit Kellogg in 2Q, Cuts Outlook-- The Associated Press
A major cereal recall and soft sales dragged Kellogg Co.'s second-quarter net income down 15 percent and led the food maker to cut its full-year outlook Thursday.
07/29/2010 -- More Foods Hinder Than Help Sleep-- The Washington Post
A number of my apparently sleep-deprived friends and colleagues, upon learning I planned to write about foods that might help people sleep better, have told me they're eager to see what I come up with.
07/29/2010 -- Don't Call Them Obese, They're Fat: UK Minister-- The Washington Post
Calling people fat rather than obese would be more likely to motivate them to lose weight, according to Britain's public health minister.
07/28/2010 -- Reid Wants Child Nutrition Bill Before Recess-- The Hill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said this week that Democrats are hoping to pass a child nutrition bill before lawmakers leave town for the August recess.
07/28/2010 -- Thai Union Frozen To Buy MW Brands for $883 million-- The Wall Street Journal
Thai Union Frozen PCL is set to become one of the world's largest canned tuna companies after announcing Wednesday it will buy French canned seafood business MW Brands in a deal worth 680 million euros ($883 million).
07/28/2010 -- Lawmakers Offer Bills to Address Spill Issues-- The New York Times
House and Senate Democratic leaders introduced bills on Tuesday responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, with provisions to overhaul the federal regulation of offshore drilling, lift liability limits on companies responsible for damaging spills and funnel more money to spill-related research and restoration projects.
07/27/2010 -- Disputed Chemical Bisphenol-A Found in Paper Receipts -- The Washington Post
As lawmakers and health experts wrestle over whether a controversial chemical, bisphenol-A, should be banned from food and beverage containers, a new analysis by an environmental group suggests Americans are being exposed to BPA through another, surprising route: paper receipts.
07/27/2010 -- Kerry's Lonely Push on Climate Change -- The Washington Post
He fell just short of winning the White House in 2004. Four years later, he was rumored to be a leading contender to be secretary of state, until President-elect Barack Obama stunned everyone by tapping his former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.
07/27/2010 -- Among House Democrats in Rust Belt, a Sense of Abandonment Over Energy Bill -- The Washington Post
When Democratic Rep. John Boccieri went home to Ohio early this year to talk with voters in his Canton-based district, he figured he would have to do battle with at least some constituents over his support for health-care reform. And the economic stimulus. And the auto company bailouts.
07/26/2010 -- Pols Profit from Immigration Impasse– Politico
The intense debate over immigration reform belies a fundamental reality for politicians and special-interest groups at both ends of the spectrum: Partisan gridlock is good for business.
07/26/2010 -- Survival of the Fattest -- The Wall Street Journal - Editorial
What a deal: Ethanol reduces carbon for only $754 a ton.The best refutation of the theory of the survival of the fittest is probably the corn ethanol lobby, whose annual $6 billion in federal subsidies have managed to outlive both its record of failure and all evidence and argument. So while we doubt another devastating study will result in any natural selection, recent findings from the Congressional Budget Office deserve more attention all the same.
07/26/2010 -- PepsiCo Spent $1.2 Million Lobbying Gov't in 2Q –- The Associated Press
PepsiCo Inc. spent $1.2 million in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on childhood obesity, climate change and other matters, according to a recent disclosure report.
07/26/2010 -- Put a Price On Carbon -- Politico - OP-ED
Now that the Senate has again decided to hold off on a comprehensive energy and climate bill, we look back at the debate with frustration — but also with lessons learned for the future.
07/25/2010 -- How Crisis PR Hasn't Kept Up with the Turbulent Times-- The Washington Post
The sun never rises for BP. Or so it seems. After it had finally stanched the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico last week, this week brought news that the "cap" it placed on the gushing wellhead might be producing "seepage" elsewhere on the sea floor. From triumph to tribulation, over the course of a mere weekend. BP's long PR nightmare continues.
07/25/2010 -- Outlook Chilly for a Smart Climate Bill -- The Washington Post - Editorial
With Democrats in control of the White House and Congress and a major international climate conference scheduled in Copenhagen, the prospect of passing legislation that would curb America's carbon emissions appeared better than ever at the beginning of the Obama administration. But President Obama and the Senate did not prioritize climate-change legislation. Health care and financial reform dragged on much longer than expected.
07/23/2010 -- Lack of Votes for Senate Democrats' Energy Bill May Mean the End-- The Washington Post
Conceding that they can't find enough votes for the legislation, Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned efforts to put together a comprehensive energy bill that would seek to curb greenhouse gas emissions, delivering a potentially fatal blow to a proposal the party has long touted and President Obama campaigned on.
9/23/2010 -- Beware the Lame Duck -- The Washington Post – Op-Ed
Barack Obama's considerable political capital, earned on Election Day 2008, is spent. Well spent, mind you, on the enactment of a highly ideological agenda of Obamacare, financial reform and a near-trillion-dollar stimulus that will significantly transform the country. But spent nonetheless. There's nothing left with which to complete his social-democratic ambitions. This would have to await the renewed mandate that would come with a second inaugural.
07/23/2010 -- Climate Bill Blame Game Begins-- Politico
Eighteen months ago, Barack Obama took office pledging to deal with a “planet in peril.”
07/22/2010 -- New Coalition Tells Congress: No Extra Ethanol at the Pump -- Roll Call
More than a dozen environmental and industry lobbying groups are joining forces to fund an ad campaign against an increase to the amount of ethanol in gasoline.
07/22/2010 -- Son of Cap and Tax -- The Wall Street Journal - Editorial
The destructive fine print in Harry Reid's energy bill.
In the Mad Mad Mad Mad World that is Senate energy politics, Democrats want a climate bill, really they do, even as they deny that they favor a climate bill at all. "Those words are not in my vocabulary," Majority Leader Harry Reid said last week when asked about cap and trade. Meanwhile, the White House, green groups and industry will continue their closed-door negotiations until the moment the bill comes to the floor as early as Monday.
07/22/2010 -- Talks Might Not Save Climate Bill– Politico
Key senators and industry officials are defending the closed-door negotiation strategy they deployed for climate legislation — even though several months of work have failed to yield the 60 votes needed to get a bill passed this year.
07/21/2010 -- Delay of Food Safety Bill Stirs Tensions Between House and Senate Democrats-- The Washington Post
Frustration over a food safety bill that is stalled in the Senate has prompted infighting among some prominent Democrats.
07/20/2010 -- First Lady, MLB Team Up Against Childhood Obesity-- USAToday
First Lady Michelle Obama is recruiting Major League Baseball to help her fight childhood obesity.
07/20/2010 -- Kerry Holds Closed-Door Climate Talks-- Politico
Sen. John Kerry led more closed-door talks on Monday with top electric utility and environmental officials in the search for a sweet spot on a bill capping greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants.
07/20/2010 -- Child-Obesity Programs Not Created Equal-- Chicago Tribune
A study found that some programs seem to work better for youngest children
Community-based programs to halt childhood obesity are gaining popularity as schools, local governments, parents and health clubs work together to help children slim down and eat more healthfully.
07/19/2010 -- Butter or Margarine? Experts Reveal What's in Their Grocery Cart -- USNews.com
Legend has it that grocery shopping used to be a one-hour gig. Now it's full of nutrition decisions: skim or whole? Fresh or frozen? Good fat, bad fat? U.S. News asked two nutrition experts to tell us what they put in their carts and why.
07/19/2010 -- GOP Sees Path to Control of Senate -- The Wall Street Journal
Democrats for the first time are acknowledging that Republicans could retake the Senate this November if everything falls into place for the GOP, less than two years after Democrats held a daunting 60-seat majority.
07/19/2010 -- Democrats Quarrel Over Food Safety Legislation -- The Hill
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) should stop her “obstruction” and allow a food safety bill to reach the Senate floor, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said Monday.
07/19/2010 -- Analyst: Russia Chicken Exports Could Start Soon -- The Washington Post
Chicken leg prices will move higher sooner than expected if chicken exports to Russia begin at the end of this month instead of the fall, an analyst said Monday.
07/19/2010 -- Oil Spill Puts a Target on BP's Back -- The Wall Street Journal
The National Corn Growers Association recently began running TV ads in Washington featuring an easily recognizable villain: BP PLC and its huge, uncontained oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.
07/16/2010 -- F.D.A. Panel Votes Against Obesity Drug -- The New York Times
A federal advisory committee voted narrowly against endorsing a drug vying to become the first new prescription medicine for obesity in more than a decade, signaling heightened concerns for possible health risks associated with a new generation of diet pills.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) intends to bring an energy bill to the Senate floor the week of July 26. It will feature four key elements -- a response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, promotion of energy efficiency, a boost for clean-energy production and a cap on carbon emissions from power plants. This is not ideal, but it would be a useful start.
07/15/2010 -- House Committee Passes Child Nutrition Bill -- The Washington Post
The House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday passed its version of child nutrition legislation, bringing the multi-billion-dollar bill one step closer to passage.
07/15/2010 -- Pollution Fight Cools Climate Talks – Politico
Closed-door meetings between a select group of environmentalists and a handful of electric utility executives may determine the fate of climate change legislation in the Senate.
07/15/2010 -- Small Biz Owners Uneasy With Obama – Politico
The White House’s attempts to tamp down the growing narrative of President Barack Obama as an enemy of the business community are not resonating with an important audience — business owners themselves.
07/15/2010 -- Childhood Obesity: A Security Issue -- Politico - OP-ED
This is a busy summer for the nation’s 15,000 military recruiters, as more high school and college graduates are seeking a military career.
07/14/2010 -- Pennsylvania, Other States in Tug of War Before Congressional Redistricting -- The Washington Post
Eli Evankovich is an accountant and farmer from a tiny town in western Pennsylvania -- and suddenly an important man. Contemplating a run for the state legislature earlier this year, he traveled to Harrisburg for the first time in his life and was startled to find himself enthusiastically courted by Republican leaders.
07/14/2010 -- Rising Imports Offset U.S. Sales Abroad -- The Washington Post
Americans' resurgent appetite for imports may undermine the Obama administration's effort to rekindle job growth, with a rise in overseas purchases by American businesses and households undercutting the benefits of increased U.S. sales abroad.
07/14/2010 -- Finance Overhaul Casts Long Shadow on the Plains -- The Wall Street Journal
Farmer Jim Kreutz uses derivatives to soften the blow should the price of feed corn drop before harvest. His brother-in-law, feedlot owner Jon Reeson, turns to them to hedge the price of his steer. The local farmers' co-op uses derivatives to finance fixed-price diesel for truckers who carry cattle to slaughter. And the packing plant employs derivatives to stabilize costs from natural gas to foreign currencies.
07/14/2010 -- Eating to Live or Living to Eat? -- The Wall Street Journal
Stomach vs. Brain: Discovering Why Some People Can Resist Dessert While Others Can't
Imagine the typical office birthday party.
It's after lunch, so everybody is full. Then, in comes a luscious chocolate confection. The sight, the smell—even the sound of the word "cake!"—stimulate the reward-and-pleasure circuits of the brain, activating memory centers and salivary glands as well.
07/14/2010 -- Monthly Trade Gap Is Biggest Since '08 -- The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. trade deficit hit its widest level in a year and a half, as increased imports from China more than offset growth in exports, an imbalance that is weighing on the tepid economic recovery.
| AFFI signed the letter referenced in the following article |
07/14/2010 --Business Dials Up Trade Efforts -- The Hill
Free trade advocates are ramping up efforts to win support for deals negotiated by the George W. Bush administration that have been stalled for years.
07/14/2010 -- Promotions Boost Sales For Food And Beverage Makers -- The Wall Street Journal
Food and beverage makers are likely to report they sold more soda, ketchup and coffee in the second quarter, propelled by hefty promotions from retailers and manufacturers looking to lure cautious consumers.
07/14/2010 -- Sen. Lincoln, White House Optimistic about Chances of Child Nutrition Bill -- The Hill
Sen. Blanche Lincoln(D-Ark.)said Wednesday she’s hopeful the upper chamber will soon take up her bill to improve school lunch programs and other child nutrition initiatives. The Arkansas Democrat said she’s pushing party leaders to bring the reauthorization bill to the floor before the programs expire at the end of September.
07/14/2010 -- Reid: Energy Bill on Senate Floor in 2 Weeks -- The Wall Street Journal
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he plans to bring energy legislation to the Senate floor in two weeks and suggested the bill would include a modified version of the “cap and trade” program that passed the House.
07/13/2010 -- Confidence in Obama Reaches New Low, Washington Post-ABC News Poll Finds -- The Washington Post
Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.
07/13/2010 -- Obama's Immigration Fakery -- The Wall Street Journal - Editorial
In 2007, then-Sen. Obama helped derail an immigration bill he claimed to support. He's no more serious about a bipartisan bill today.
Many of us in the press have had a field day noting Sen. John McCain's (R., Ariz.) transformation from immigration maverick to the Wyatt Earp of border control. Fair enough.
07/13/2010 -- Reid Will Force Action on Energy Bill – Politico
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a sweeping energy and climate bill to the floor as early as the week of July 26, including a controversial cap on emissions from power plants.
07/13/2010 -- Salsas and Guacamole Linked to More Foodborne Illnesses -- USA Today
Close to one in 25 outbreaks of foodborne illness in restaurants and delis can be traced to contaminated, freshly-made salsa or guacamole, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting.
07/12/2010 -- First Lady Touts Anti-childhood Obesity Initiative -- The Washington Post
A child obesity epidemic fed by fast food, sugary drinks and too much television threatens to create the first generation of American youths who live shorter lives than their parents, Michelle Obama said Monday.
07/12/2010 -- Restaurants Mobilize to Save Fisheries -- The Wall Street Journal
As Global Consumption Soars, Big Buyers Join Growing Effort Toward Eco-Friendly Practices Meant to Sustain Species
The world's rising appetite for seafood is on a collision course with its wild fisheries, leaving restaurant companies and other big buyers caught in the middle.
The beautiful thing about this little town, the locals will tell you, is that everyone seems to know everyone. Where the children go to school, where the parents work. Who's engaged to be married, who's joining the military.
07/12/2010 -- Feinstein's Call for BPA Ban Bill Riles Lobbies -- The San Francisco Chronicle
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's insistence that a sweeping food safety bill include a ban on bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to line food cans, threatens a top White House priority.
07/11/2010 -- Advocates Run Ads Urging Senate to Pass Food Safety Bill -- The Washington Post
A year after House Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly approved legislation to improve food safety, public health advocates are growing frustrated that the Senate has yet to take up the bill.
07/09/2010 -- Campaign Rhetoric Focuses on Economy -- The Washington Post
President Obama offered a sharp-edged preview of his election-season campaign message, using fundraisers for Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) to cast the midterms as a choice between economic policies of the past and those of the future.
07/09/2010 -- Democrats Warn of Cash Disadvantage -- The Washington Post
Democratic Party officials are warning the party's operatives, allies and grass-roots supporters that they could be vastly outspent by Republican-leaning outside interest groups in November's midterm elections.
07/09/2010 -- U.S. Won’t Cite China for Manipulating Yuan -- The Washington Post
The Obama administration announced Thursday that it will not cite China for manipulating its currency to gain unfair trade advantages against the United States.
07/09/2010 -- Pulling Back the Curtain on Redistricting -- The Washington Post
Every 10 years -- unfortunately, sometimes more frequently -- legislative district lines are redrawn to balance population for demographic changes revealed by the census. What goes on is much more than a simple technical adjustment of boundaries, with ramifications that largely escape public notice.
07/09/2010 -- Special Election Cleared to Fill Byrd’s Seat -- USA Today
West Virginia voters may hold a special election to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd this year after the state's top lawyer said Thursday that "the people's right to vote" trumps an unclear election law.
07/09/2010 -- Efforts to Curb Special Interests in Elections Fizzle -- USA Today
A high-profile effort by President Obama and top Democrats to clamp down on special-interest spending in elections has faltered, nearly six months after a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for unlimited corporate and union spending on independent campaign ads.
07/09/2010 -- Children's Food Marketing Guidelines Delayed -- The Wall Street Journal
A report originally due to Congress July 15 outlining a set of voluntary standards for marketing foods and beverages to children has been delayed, and it isn't yet clear when it will be completed, according to people familiar with the work.
07/08/2010 -- Politics, Personality Fuel Rift Between CEOs, Obama -- The Wall Street Journal
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama made nice to big-company CEOs and they returned the favor in a White House celebration of the virtues of increased U.S. exports. "We've got to all row in the same direction," he said.
07/08/2010 -- Obama Shifts to Export-Led Jobs Push -- The Wall Street Journal
The White House is shifting the focus of its job-creation efforts away from appeals for more federal spending and toward expanding exports and persuading business leaders to invest more.
07/08/2010 -- McDonald's Blasts Criticism of Happy-Meal Toys -- The Wall Street Journal
McDonald's Corp. Chief Executive Jim Skinner vowed to vigorously defend the company in its use of toys to promote Happy Meals against a threat by a consumer group to sue the fast-food giant over the practice.
07/08/2010 -- Obama Promises Push on Trade Pacts -- The New York Times
President Obama, who vowed in his State of the Union address to double American exports over the next five years, said on Wednesday that he would renew his efforts to renegotiate long-stalled free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia and persuade Congress to adopt them.
07/08/2010 -- CBO Boosts Climate Bill – Politico
Senate backers of a long-shot bid to pass legislation with greenhouse gas caps got some fresh help Wednesday when the Congressional Budget Office reported that one high-profile proposal would help curb the federal deficit by about $19 billion over the next decade.
07/07/2010 -- U.S. Expected to Double Exports in Five Years -- The Wall Street Journal
President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil a report Wednesday showing the U.S. is on track to double exports in the next five years and name the chief executives of United Parcel Services Inc., Walt Disney Co., Pfizer Inc. and other firms to a presidential advisory board on trade issues.
07/06/2010 -- EPA Pushes Air Pollution Regulations – Politico
The EPA unveiled proposed air pollution regulations Tuesday aimed at curbing harmful power plant pollution in 31 states, mostly east of the Mississippi River.
07/06/2010 -- Dead Zone in Gulf Linked to Ethanol Production -- The San Francisco Chronicle
While the BP oil spill has been labeled the worst environmental catastrophe in recent U.S. history, a biofuel is contributing to a Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" the size of New Jersey that scientists say could be every bit as harmful to the gulf.
07/05/2010 -- Farmers Find Opportunity in Immigrant Vegetables -- The Associated Press
Maxixe, a Brazilian relative of the cucumber, is relatively unknown in the U.S., but it may one day be as common as cilantro as farmers and consumers embrace more so-called ethnic vegetables.
07/02/2010 -- New York Drops Soda Tax Plan After Ad Campaign -- The New York Times
To understand why Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposed tax on sugary sodas has apparently gone down the drain — despite strong support from good-government groups, editorial pages and health advocates — it is only necessary, political analysts say, to compare these two advertising campaigns:
07/01/2010 -- Free-Trade Winds May Be Blowing Again -- The Wall Street Journal
The longstanding U.S. campaign for ever-freer global trade was a casualty of job-destroying recessions and widespread American suspicion that free trade means making it easier for China to steal American prosperity. But we may—emphasizemay—look back on the past few weeks as the moment when the trade tide turned.
07/01/2010 -- Obama Makes Pitch for Immigration Overhaul -- The Wall Street Journal
President Barack Obama laid out his case Thursday for an overhaul of immigration laws and challenged Republicans who once backed the idea to again come forward.
07/01/2010 -- Corn Jumps on New Supply Outlook -- The Wall Street Journal
USDA Says Stockpiles, Acreage Far Lower Than Expected; 'Almost Unbelievable'
Fresh U.S. government data rattled corn markets on Wednesday, sending futures prices soaring 9% and raising questions about the precision of earlier estimates.
07/01/2010 -- Climate Bill Hopes Hang on Jeff Bingaman – Politico
If brand-name senators like Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham can’t get a climate bill through the Senate, does a quiet guy like Jeff Bingaman stand a chance?
06/30/2010 -- Democrats Step Back on Carbon Cap -- The Wall Street Journal
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies signaled Tuesday that they were ready to shelve their effort to win an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions and work for a more limited bill.
06/30/2010 -- Chamber Raises Stakes in Cuba Travel Ban -- The Hill
Business associations are raising the lobbying stakes on legislation that would remove the American travel ban and boost U.S. farm sales to Cuba.
06/30/2010 -- Weisenberger: Congress Should Give Every Child a Chance to Live a Healthy Lifestyle --Roll Call – Op Ed
As a registered dietitian and nutrition counselor, I’m encouraged to see movement this week in the House Education and Labor Committee on childhood nutrition reauthorization. A strong child nutrition bill based on sound science that guides the types of foods sold during the school day is critical to the health of our nation’s youth. In fact, it is one of the most important things we can do to ensure every child has access to healthy options and proper nutrition to live a long life. It is a sad reality that because of obesity and poor health habits, this generation is likely to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. Congress has the power to change this course by passing a strong child nutrition bill this year.
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