U.S. Department of Agriculture

Meat Prices Are Rising: Stock Up While You Can!

Paleo purists may need to bolster the salad component of their diets: The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports soaring meat and poultry prices nationwide. How do you feel about paying 7 percent more for Pride of the Farm center-cut pork steaks at Schnucks -- a price increase from $2.84 to $3.04 p ... More >>

Don't Play FreeBird! Frozen Chicken Nuggets, Patties Recalled

Finally, after almost six years of existence, Gut Check gets to make a "Free Bird" joke. Suzanna's Kitchen of Duluth, Georgia, has announced a precautionary recall, via the USDA, of certain packages of FreeBird-brand frozen chicken nuggets and patties because they might contain pieces of plastic. ... More >>

Trader Joe's "Butter Chicken" Recalled, but St. Louis Area OK

First, the bad news: The USDA has alerted us to a Canadian recall of frozen butter chicken and basmati rice because of potential listeria contamination. The product from Aliya's Foods Limited in Canada made it to the U.S. as Trader Joe's Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice.

Who Will Save Us from the Plastic Pen Invasion?

The plastic pens waited, biding their time, until America turned its weary attention to the final hours of the interminable campaign. Then -- THEN! -- they struck again. In August, the plastic pens snuck into frozen bratwurst patties. Now they've come for our grill-marked chicken-breast strips.

The Most Ridiculous Food Recall Ever? Yeah, the Most Ridiculous Food Recall Ever.

In general, food recalls aren't funny. Listeria, E. coli, salmonella: serious business, all of them. Undeclared allergens might not matter to most consumers, but for those who are allergic, they can be a very big deal, indeed. But then there is this recall, announced last week by the USDA.

Johnsonville Sausages, Clif Bars Recalled

Well, here's a different sort of recall: Johnsonville Sausage has recalled 48,000 pounds of its "Turkey Sausage with Cheddar" because -- and here we quote directly from the USDA's press release lest you don't believe us -- "they may contain pieces of gloves." Now, we understand a certain amount of ... More >>

SE Missouri Is Hardest-Hit By Drought, Yet Will Most Likely Produce Bumper Corn Crop

Southeast Missouri has been wracked by severe category of drought for much of the summer -- just last week the U.S. Drought Monitor report showed that the entire southeastern corner of the state qualified for D4 status, the most exceptional category of drought. On Friday, the USDA forecast that corn ... More >>

USDA Forecasts Steep Drop in Corn and Soybean Crops

While we're finally getting a break from the summer heat, don't expect any farmers in the Midwest to jump for joy. Crops have been devastated by the drought, and the United States Department of Agriculture's latest production forecast reflects the damage.Corn production is projected to be down 13 pe ... More >>

Thanks to This Stupid Drought, Food Prices Are Expected to Rise in 2013

Yeah. There's still no rain. Sure, the sky tantalizes us from time to time with dark clouds and even distant thunder and lightning and everybody gets all excited, but does it ever deliver? It's such a tease. So we're all hot and sweaty and gross and our lawns are all brown and this misery is expecte ... More >>

Rockville MO Horse Slaughter Plant Update: Nothing Doing So Far

In June of this year Sue Wallis, the CEO of Unified Equine, announced that a shuttered cattle processing plant in Rockville, Missouri, would soon be home to her company's first horse slaughterhouse in America. Work was to begin immediately so that horses could be processed for human consumption as s ... More >>

Cargill Recalls Ground Beef for Possible Salmonella Contamination

Cargill has recalled 29,339 pounds of ground beef because of possible salmonella contamination, the USDA announced yesterday. An outbreak of salmonella in early June sickened 33 individuals; officials were able to trace back five of the cases to ground beef from Cargill Meat Solutions in Wyalusing, ... More >>

USDA To Start Testing for Six More Strains of E. coli

Starting Monday, the USDA will begin testing raw beef manufacturing trim for six additional strains of E. coli bacteria, the agency announced yesterday. Raw beef manufacturing trim is the main component in most commercial ground beef. E. coli is the bacteria that makes you really, really sick. Repe ... More >>

Food on Film

Mad Cow in California, Confused Cow in Colorado

The USDA today confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a.k.a. mad cow disease, in a dairy cow in central California. According to the USDA, the animal's meat was never intended for human consumption and, to anticipate your next question, mad cow disease isn't transmitted through milk. ... More >>

Pink Slime: You Know You Want It -- Here's Where to Get It!

It's easy to say you want to know all about what's in your food and where it comes from. You know -- farm-to-table, sustainable agriculture, heirloom parsnips and all that. But we all know that sometimes our go-to guy at the farmers' market is fresh outta parsnips, heirloom or otherwise, and more to ... More >>

USDA Requires Nutritional Facts for Raw Meat and Poultry

On Thursday, March 1, a new rule implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service requires that packaged raw ground or chopped meat and poultry be labeled with nutritional information. The rule, which was originally announced on December 29, 2010 ... More >>

Cost of Peanut Butter Set to Rocket

​Whether you like your peanut butter smooth or creamy, organic or conventional, Skippy or Jif or Peter Pan, you're about to pay a lot more for it.According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, the wholesale cost of peanut butter will rise anywhere from 24%-40% next month. Since last year, t ... More >>

USDA to Expand E. Coli Ban

​Here's a fun fact: Of the E. coli strains known to have sickened human beings, the USDA bans only the sale of ground beef and other "non-intact raw beef" products contaminated with one of the strains, the most famous, 0157.That will change beginning in March of next year, the USDA announced this ... More >>

Salmonella Detected in Cargill Turkey Last Year

​The Wall Street Journal reports today that the USDA first detected salmonella Heidelberg in Cargill's Springdale, Arkansas, turkey-processing plant last year but was restricted by its own rules from doing anything about it.Cargill recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey after at least 77 peop ... More >>

Salmonella Found in Ground Turkey [Updated 2x]

Image via Turkey meat is grounds for concern.​Update #2: (Thursday, August 4, 6:45 a.m.) Meat processor Cargill yesterday announced a voluntary recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced at its Springdale, Arkansas, processing plant and sold under the "Honeysuckle White" brand. A ... More >>

Feds Get New Tools to Fight Food-Borne Illnesses

freshexpress.com​ It has been a busy week for federal agencies that try to keep bugs out of the food supply. This week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration debuted a revamped website that provides food-recall information to consumers. The previous website was so bad that improvements were m ... More >>

In Missouri, it's one puppy mill down, and how many more to go?

China's Food Inflation Skyrockets

Food inflation hits China and threatens the country's stability. The Los Angeles Times looks at why food prices have increased over 10 percent in the past year. While Americans spend 12 percent of their income on food, rural Chinese residents spend around 36 percent, making for a huge economic hit.F ... More >>

Food Insecurity Rates at Record High

The USDA's annual report shows that 17.4 million American families grappled with food insecurity in 2009. That's 15 percent of the population. The Los Angeles Times reports that this is more than three times the number of hungry families from 2006. Hunger be damned, there's wine to be auctioned! A ... More >>

The USDA Snaps Into the New Healthy Eating Incentive Plan

The government can't tell people what they can eat, but a new USDA program gives incentive to eat healthy. The Washington Post explains changes in SNAP (the new name for food stamps) that will reward people for eating fruits and vegetables. Participants will receive 30 cents for every dollar they sp ... More >>

Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms: The Supreme Court Rules, Everyone Claims Victory

Image viaEven Alfalfa is smiling about yesterday's ruling on alfalfa.​Gut Check hasn't read much case law since our high-school debate career ended and our briefcase (and trophies!) went into storage in our parents' garage. However, we were fairly certain that when the Supreme Court issued a rulin ... More >>

The USDA's Long-Awaited Organic Pasture Access Rule: Only Two Months to Go!

image credit​Beginning in June, cattle across America will get a breath of fresh air. Last month the United States Department of Agriculture quietly issued a press release announcing that it had completed the five-year process of retooling the rules governing organic livestock practices. The ... More >>

'Pampered Pets' Are Anything But, Says Animal Rights Group

Image via When pampering your pet goes too far. This dog looks like he would rather be in a puppy mill than wear this outfit.​Pampering your pets is good, but Pampered Pets is bad. So says a local animal rights group. Metro East Pet Lovers will be protesting Pampered Pets, a pet store ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 2.9

Health officials destroy over $1,000 worth of local fruit over business license dispute. (Chicago Tribune) ​ USDA kills never-functional livestock-tracking program. (Des Moines Register)Brooklyn high school students flock to food justice class. (New York Times)Need sandwich assistance? There' ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 12.8

​ What's wrong with the USDA? (The Atlantic)Florida McDonald's accused of transgendered hiring discrimination. (MSNBC)Like cranberries? You'd better, because they're in everything. (Los Angeles Times)Dissecting the anatomy of a menu. (New York Magazine)

The Morning Brew: Thursday, 9.3

​ A frog in a Diet Pepsi can ruins tiki party and somehow doesn't satiate the growing appetite for frog meat. (CNN, Ecowordly.com)Starbucks takes their instant coffee national. (Seattle Business Journal)September is National Bourbon Heritage Month. Knob Creek celebrates with webcast addressi ... More >>

Top o' the Morning Brew: Tuesday, 3.17

The USDA's new Country of Origin Labeling (pr COOL) law goes into effect today. (MSNBC)Apparently, it's food-allergy-news week: A new study finds that black male children have the highest risk of food allergies. (U.S. News & World Report)Research suggests that eating mushrooms could reduce a wom ... More >>

The Noble Writ: Organic Wine and the Sustainable Secret

Dave Nelson is the author of the blog Beer, Wine and Whisky. He writes about wine for Gut Check every Tuesday.I like to think of myself as a relatively environmentally-aware guy. My family of four downsized to one car a year ago. We compost and recycle, pay a bit extra for wind power, buy a lot of o ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 1.27

In today's news: a bad history at the source of the salmonella outbreak, caterpillars in Liberia and deadly fugu in Japan.

The Morning Brew: Friday, 10.10

The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 9.2

Hold That Tiger: The recent big cat attacks in Missouri have residents and state officials calling for tougher exotic animal laws

The Morning Brew: Wednesday, 8.13

The Morning Brew: Wednesday, 5.21

The Morning Brew: Friday, 3.7

The Morning Brew: Thursday, 2.28

A Little More on the Massive Beef Recall

Biggest. Beef Recall. Ever.

The Morning Brew: Thursday, 2.7

The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 11/20

Cold Comfort

Whole Foods Market
Organic Gummy Bears

$5.69
Whole Foods Market
1601 Brentwood Boulevard
Brentwood

Eat Me

The only thing keeping the Japanese from buying the Midwest's finest beef is the USDA

Best Steak House

Citizen Kane's

SHELL GAME

How your breakfast eggs made the grade