Photo via flickr user woodleywonderworksEarlier this year, FIC celebrated the fact that major fast food chains pulled BPI's ammoniated beef trimmings from their menus, vindicating the actions of GAP client and whistleblower Kit Foshee. However, news has come that the USDA is still planning to purchase the controversial product for school lunches, according to The Daily.

Last year, 6.5 percent of the beef USDA purchased for the national school lunch program came from BPI. The partnership looks to continue in the coming months, as the agency aims to purchase 7 million pounds of the company's ammoniated beef for schools.

Decision by McDonald's, Burger King & Taco Bell May Prompt Others to Follow Suit
Whistleblower Questioned Practices by Beef Products, Inc. Years Ago

In the waning days of 2011, fast-food giants McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell announced they will no longer use a controversial beef product produced by food behemoth Beef Products Inc. (BPI). At one time, the ammoniated beef product – beef trimmings known in the industry as 'pink slime' – could be found in approximately 80 percent of the hamburgers consumed in the United States, including those served at fast-food restaurants and through the national school lunch program. While some media outlets raised public awareness regarding potential dangers associated with the product, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) also recognizes the role of the BPI whistleblower who reported the company's practices.

Could an emerging multi-billion dollar industry be flourishing right under consumers' noses and into their mouths? That could very well be the case – for years now in fact – with nanotechnology in food.

As You Sow – a nonprofit organization that aims to increase corporate accountability – points out in its latest report that the potential safety risks of manipulating matter at the molecular scale to create nano-sized products (including nutritional additives, flavorings, colorings, or antibacterial ingredients for food packaging) are still largely unknown. Yet these nanoparticles may already be in a variety of U.S. food products without the public's knowledge, thanks to regulatory loopholes.

Photo via wikimedia user RasbakConsumers can definitely be thankful this week for the decision by McDonald's to cut off its largest egg supplier, Sparboe Farms, after it was publicly exposed as a violator of food integrity. An undercover video released by animal rights group Mercy for Animals showed animal cruelty and unsanitary practices at Sparboe facilities in three states: Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado.

Earlier this year, bills in two of those states – Iowa and Minnesota – were introduced in an effort to prevent these types of videos from doing what would otherwise be impossible: unveiling the ugly truth of factory farm conditions. Luckily, the bills failed to make it out of their legislative sessions alive, but it's likely that Big Ag will continue similar efforts in the future – knowing the videos' capacity to air the industry's dirty laundry.

Photo via flickr user Cosmic KittyYou may have heard that McDonald's has announced some "healthier" changes to its menu: adding fruit and reducing the portion size of fries in every Happy Meal, lowering the total calories by 20 percent. Whether you believe it's a step, though small, in the right direction or simply strategic marketing (or both!), the word is definitely out.

The Sacramento Bee reported on a new three-year research project that aims to study various types of housing for egg-laying hens and their impact on food safety, worker safety, environmental impact, animal welfare and food affordability. It all sounds well and good on the surface until you look at who is actually putting the study together and in what context. Big industry has initiated this effort, labeled "the first of its kind," as a means to supposedly fill the gap in scientific knowledge around egg production. But really this is nothing new—industry exploring how best to protect its pocket.

Beef industry giants, like most of agribusiness, have thrived as they continue to dominate consumers' meat product purchasing decisions. The "number one commodity sold in grocery stores" according to a Dillons representative, beef accounts for the biggest sales volume. On the other hand, the USDA states that beef consumption is the lowest it’s been since 1961.