Ag News, Wednesday Aug 3, 2016

A GMO "Boycott" 

GMO labeling advocates are ramping up pressure on companies who already have labeled their products because of the Vermont labeling law to make sure they keep that information available for consumers. The GMO labeling bill signed by the President gives the USDA two years to come up with rules to implement the bill. Gary Hirshberg is the chair of Just Label It, and he urged companies like Campbell’s, Mars, and Dannon to keep the labels on their products, saying, “Your consumers will be watching to see if you continue to provide this basic information, and so will we.” In the meantime, almost 500,000 people have signed on to the campaign from the pro-labeling group Organic Consumers Association to stop buying food products that are labeled with QR codes, calling those codes the “mark of Monsanto.” Instead, they pledge to “buycott” products from companies that support a consumer’s right to know what’s in their food. The Association also calls for a boycott of members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which helped to fund opposition to mandatory state labeling laws.

McDonald’s Announces New Antibiotics Policy

McDonald’s USA announced today that they will only be sourcing chickens raised without antibiotics that are important to humans. President Mike Andres said, “Our customers want food they feel great about eating, all the way from the farm to the restaurant table, and these moves are a way to help that happen.” McDonald’s has been working with its farmers for years to limit the number of antibiotics they use in the chain’s poultry supply. All chicken served in McDonald’s American restaurants comes from farms working closely with the chain to implement the new policy. The chain does approve of using antibiotics to treat chickens when they become ill, but doesn’t support the practice after they are well. The farmers will continue to use antibiotics called ionophores (eye-on’-eh-fores), a type that isn’t used on humans and is important for keeping chickens healthy. In a separate move, McDonald’s announced they will serve jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk only from cows not treated with rBST, an artificial growth hormone sometimes used in cattle. McDonald’s realizes that there’s no significant difference between milk treated with rBST and rBST-free milk, but they recognize it’s something important to their customers.

Source;  NAFB News