GOP seeks to repeal food labeling law

Cattlemen split over country-of-origin requirement

• Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving.

  As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill they plan to finish this month.

I don't think that witholding information about products from consumers is a good idea. This scheme by the GOP is clearly designed to help corporate food distributors while ignoring the risks to the American people.

Remember the scallion debacle?

• Apio Fresh, LLC has announced that it is asking its customers to withdraw from the marketplace all green onions sold by the company in light of concerns about a Hepatitis A outbreak in several eastern states which has been traced to green onions imported from Mexico.