Hormel Foods has suspended buying from one of its largest suppliers and opened an investigation into its practices after an animal rights group secretly taped workers at the plant allegedly mistreating and abusing pigs. [More]
pigs
Why It’s A Problem That Gene For Drug-Resistant Superbug Was Found On U.S. Farm
By 12.6.16
Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are nothing new on U.S. farms, so why are some people so concerned about the recent discovery, on an American pig farm, of a gene that confers resistance to a vital class of antibiotics? [More]
That Sounds Offal! How Much Do You Know About Your Organ & “Variety” Meats?
October 5, 2016
Offal — the edible organs and other trimmings from a livestock animal — gets a bad rap, mostly because of the initial ick-factor associated with the idea of chowing down on a brain, testicle, ear, or tail. The “offal” name certainly hasn’t helped. Yet for folks around the world, these “variety meats” are everyday fare. [More]
USDA Investigating Hormel Pork Supplier After Video Showing “Completely Unacceptable” Conditions Surfaces
By 11.12.15
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it’s going to investigate a Hormel Foods’ pork supplier in Austin, after an undercover video surfaced showing treatment of pigs that is “completely unacceptable,” federal meat inspectors say. [More]
Thousands Of Pigs Left Homeless Amid Craze For Tiny Pet Swine
By 7.23.15
Whether it’s kittens, lizards, puppies or cockatoos, humans just love their pets. But often when one species has a spike in popularity, many pets are left without homes once the craze dies down, and folks realize it’s not always easy raising an animal. You know, because animals have a tendency to eat a lot, and grow, things many pig owners weren’t expecting when they bought their pets. [More]
Weirdly Symmetrical Tractor-Trailer Crashes Scatter Live Piglets, Cases Of Bacon Across Highways
By 6.9.15
Here at Consumerist, we have a completely understandable obsession with tractor-trailer accidents where food ends up strewn across the highway, especially when no one is seriously injured. Yet there’s a strange symmetry to two unrelated accidents in the last week that left thousands of live piglets running from the wreck in Ohio, and 70,000 pounds of bacon strewn across train tracks and a highway in Illinois. [More]
FDA Finally Warns Drug Company Against Selling Antibiotic As A Pig-Fattener
By 5.15.15
A year after public health advocates called out drug maker Novartis for continuing to actively market a particular antibiotic as a product farmers could use to fatten up their pigs, the FDA has finally gotten around to issuing a warning. [More]
Escaped Pig Snaps At Customers While Blocking Burger King Drive-Thru
By 4.2.15
This just in: Word of fast food restaurant’s use of bacon has apparently spread beyond the human realm to the farm, where the news apparently prompted one pig to escape his confines and head for Burger King to disrupt mankind’s quest for animal products. [More]
New Vaccines May Have Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Under Control
By 10.10.14
We’ve been discussing porcine epidemic diarrhea on the site in the past, mostly in the context of it causing an increase in pork prices because millions of piglets have died. Good news for bacon-lovers and newborn piglets alike: there are two new vaccines conditionally approved to prevent PEDv, and another on the way. [More]
Pig Decides Today Is Not The Day It Becomes Bacon, Jumps From Truck Bound For Slaughterhouse
By 6.13.14
I don’t want to say pigs can conceive and carry out plans, per se, but you’ve got to wonder how one pig in South America seemed to know it really didn’t want to be on a truck heading to the slaughterhouse. Perhaps one day he’ll be bacon, but it won’t be this day. [More]
Indiana Farm First To Publicly Confirm Second Outbreak Of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea
By 5.28.14
Don’t think you care about the porcine epidemic diarrhea hitting farms around the country. Consider your bacon: If you like eating pork, it’ll be a lot harder to buy it if pigs keep dying from the virus. And now that one farm has come out to confirm that it’s been hit a second time when many believed an initial sweep would immunize pigs, it seems that pork might get a bit pricier. [More]
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Won’t Make You Sick, Might Make Pork More Expensive
By 3.13.14
“Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea” sounds incredibly unpleasant. The disease first showed up in the United States last year, and thanks to the cold weather nationwide has showed up in 27 states. What is it, and should humans be worried? Not unless you own any hogs or you have a tight budget for meat for the next year or two. [More]
Sears Messes Up, I Have To Face Life Without A Light-Up Skiing Santa Pig
By 1.30.14
Mike had a simple desire. He wanted a lighted skiing pig Christmas decoration. He wanted several of them, actually. Sears had them available, so he placed an online order, choosing in-store pickup. Sears e-mailed him that his order was ready, and he happily drove 40 miles to Sears in winter weather to pick it up. If you’ve ever placed an online order with Sears, you know what happened next. [More]
FDA Bans "Extra-Label" Uses Of Popular Class Of Antibiotics On Farm Animals
By 1.4.12
For those of you who are concerned about the amount of antibiotics being given to the cows, chickens, pigs and turkeys that provide (or end up as) the food on your plate, here’s some good news. The Food and Drug Administration has announced a new regulation that prohibits “extra-label” uses of a popular class of antibiotics. [More]
Massachusetts Fast Food Chains Must Now Display Calorie Counts
By 5.14.09
Massachusetts has approved a new regulation to list calorie counts at fast food eateries and other chain restaurants throughout the state.
By 4.28.09
../..//2009/04/28/heres-why-you-dont-rely/
Here’s why you don’t rely solely on Twitter for news about health scares. [xkcd] (Thanks to Rebecca!)
By 10.17.07
../..//2007/10/17/wired-talks-to-farmers/
Wired talks to farmers who own cloned livestock and dairy cows—2nd and 3rd iterations of valuable original “models.” The FDA hasn’t officially approved cloned meat and milk for supermarkets yet, though, and lots of consumers still freak out. (Did you when you read that first sentence?) [Wired]
FDA/USDA Says Melamine-Fed Pigs And Chickens OK To Eat
By 5.8.07
The FDA and USDA today jointly announced that swine and poultry fatted on feed containing wheat gluten laced with melamine pose a “very low risk” if you eat them.
