Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo)Who was responsible for including an unrelated and seriously problematic biotech rider – nicknamed the "Monsanto Protection Act" – in the 2013 spending bill? It was originally introduced anonymously, with many members of Congress unaware of its existence, but it turns out we have a senator from Monsanto's home state of Missouri to thank for it.

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo) had no qualms about owning up to the fact he worked with Monsanto (which has donated plenty of campaign funds to him over the years) to craft the rider, which zaps the power of federal courts in the arena of approving genetically engineered crops. Basically, once Secretary Vilsack gives the okay of a newly engineered crop, the courts can't keep the farmers from growing it, even if a judge finds the crops were approved illegally. The debate over the safety of these crops continues (with a number of whistleblowers speaking up), but the fact that this provision overrides judicial review is a violation of food integrity, not to mention the constitutional notion of separation of powers.

As of January 2013, arsenic is officially banned from poultry feed in Maryland – the first state to pass such a law. It took three years to push the legislation through over industry opposition, but now environmental, public health and food safety advocates can finally celebrate.

Poultry whistleblower Carole Morison (who used to be a contract farmer for Perdue and appeared in the documentary Food, Inc.) praised the ban after Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed it into law last May, though she explained the need to be aware of possible loopholes.

The battle for improved food transparency faced a devastating blow in California as election results early this morning showed the failure to pass the state ballot to label food with genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. With 53 percent voting against the hotly debated Proposition 37, and with 47 percent in favor, the initiative to make California the first state to have such labeling lost by a substantial margin.

The final vote is a big difference from polls reported back in September showing Prop 37 to be overwhelmingly popular, with 65 percent in favor. The drastic shift may have something to do with the millions of anti-Prop 37 advertising dollars spent on the “No on Prop. 37” campaign, with agribusiness giant (and top GE crop producer) Monsanto leading the way. Monsanto alone contributed over $8 million to stop the proposition. Joined by other entities (including Pepsico, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, etc.) whose products would require labeling as a result of the law, the industry spent nearly $46 million to defeat the measure. Meanwhile, the "Yes on Prop. 37" campaign spent $8.9 million to support the pro-labeling initiative. 

Photo via flickr user iantmcfarlandBig news came yesterday with the announcement that Mexican fast food chain Chipotle has, at last, signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve wages and working conditions for Florida's tomato farmworkers. The agreement comes right before the winter growing season, when most of the nation's tomatoes come from Florida.

It's about time, Chipotle! Earlier this year, FIC explained how the chain's trademarked slogan of "Food with Integrity" continued to ignore the routine exploitation of food workers – potential whistleblowers whose voices should be heard. Now that Chipotle has joined CIW's Fair Food Program (making it the 11th company to do so), its public image has some real accountability to back it up.

We're less than two months away from the November election – when California's Proposition 37 could become the country's first law mandating the labeling of genetically engineered (GE). But the law won’t happen if Monsanto or other Big Ag companies have anything to say about it.

According to the California Right to Know campaign, Monsanto added another $2.89 million last Friday to defeat Proposition 37, making the GE crop producer's contributions against the labeling measure total $7.1 million.

Earlier this week, FIC blogged about ongoing Salmonella problems at Iowa facilities once owned by egg tycoon Jack DeCoster, despite a new owner that vowed to improve egg safety in the state. Meanwhile, an update in the investigation into the 2010 Salmonella outbreak surfaced on Wednesday when former DeCoster Farms manager Tony Wasmund acknowledged he and another person conspired to bribe a USDA inspector "to allow the sale of unapproved eggs."

Photo courtesy of wikimedia user Gisela FranciscoCentrum Valley Farms is the company that planned to ”clean up Iowa’s egg industry” last year when it took over the notorious operations of Jack DeCoster in the state. You may remember DeCoster's eggs were implicated in the 2010 Salmonella outbreak that sickened about 2000 people. Unfortunately, it looks like Centrum Valley has food safety problems of its own. According to the Associated Press, the FDA sent a warning letter to the company after finding Salmonella Heidelberg (a different bacteria strain than the more common Salmonella Enteritidis blamed for the 2010 outbreak) in two of six poultry houses.