February 23, 2012

PepsiCo Switches To Nexera Oil In Some of Its Major Brands

220g_Tostitos_Multigrain-1

New Coke is a formulation and a branding error that will live in infamy forever. People hate when you mess with their favourite brands. The tiniest change can make a big impact.  It’s a move that can be absolutely devastating if it’s wrong, but it’s also a move that can be extremely profitable if done [...]

Does Feeding Corn DDG’s Heighten the Risk of E-Coli? – Dr. Tim McAllister

With the devastating effects of the E-coli outbreak in Germany being played out in the media, the results of a U.S. study on the increased shedding of another strain of the bacteria by cattle fed corn DDGs is getting more attention than it normally would . The U.S. study linked increased levels of E-coli 0157 [...]

Patrick Moore on GMO, Sustainable Energy and Pop Environmentalism

At first glance, Patrick Moore resembles more CEO than ecologist, but give him a topic like the opposition to genetically modified crops, and you get all the emotion you’d expect from someone who helped found Greenpeace. Moores involvement with Greenpeace started in the late 1960′s in opposition to nuclear testing and the arms race and [...]

Can Organic and Modern Agriculture Co-Exist?

By Shaun Haney Few debates in life involve an all or none scenario. Some people try to make things this way but in reality it is not possible. This is similar to the debate of whether organic agriculture and modern agriculture can co-exist.  The better question is why not? As I have mentioned many times [...]

Trying to Improve Food Distribution for Farmers in Ontario – Dr. John Kelly

Farmers markets have exploded into the mainstream with the public’s increased attention on the supply of food. Traditionally this has been where farmer’s that are interested in direct marketing their production can gather with consumers to due business. Dr. John Kelly, VP of Erie Innovation and Commercialization discussed his study to improve the distribution of [...]

OnTrace Helps to Provide Food Safety to Ontario Consumers – Brian Sterling, CEO

Traceability has become a word that farmers are much more familiar with over the past ten years. Many farmers used to think that their responsibility ended at the farm gate. Many would say that this is no longer the case while some people content all of this is about pushing liability down the value chain. [...]

Discussing Organics and Biotech with Alex Avery

As you all know the debate around food safety continues to rage on.  As we have discussed on this site before, the debate many times comes down to the discussion around combating the theory by many consumers that organic food is more healthy and better for the environment.  What we see on tv is people [...]

Tiffin 2010 – A Review and Outlook for Genetically Modified Crops and Food

soybean research

Emotion is a powerful thing.  Many people make decisions based on emotion and not science.  There is some irony in all of this based on our scientific knowledge has never been higher.  We know more about the genome of plants than ever before in our history.  Yet at the same time emotions are high and [...]

Alberta Pork’s H1N1 Challenges & Responses

This was originally written by Lillian  Schaer on her blog “Food and Farming Canada“ This post is a continuation from yesterday€™s H1N1 topic that explored Alberta Pork€™s experiences at the centre of the H1N1 media storm earlier this year. The information is based on a presentation I attended by Lee Funke of Torque Communications at [...]

Dr. Daryl Tatum – Meat Production , Meat Quality and Consumer Wants

At the Elanco Beef Consultants Forum this month I had the chance to interview Dr. Daryl Tatum, a meat scientist from Colorado State University.  We had a chance to chat about some of the issues with the gap between consumers and producers with meat quality and production.  Dr.Tatum addressees the issue of the industry achieving efficiencies and [...]