MARY CLARE JALONICK

Read the latest stories and analysis from MARY CLARE JALONICK.

FILE - This Aug. 24, 2010 file photo shows chickens in Sparks, Md. The Obama administration is overhauling poultry plant inspections for the first time in more than 50 years, a move it says could result in 5,000 fewer foodborne illnesses each year. The final rules announced Thursday would reduce the number of government poultry inspectors by around a fourth. But those that remain will focus more on food safety than quality, requiring them to pull more birds off the line for closer inspections and encouraging more testing for pathogens. There would also be more inspectors checking the facilities to make sure they are clean. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

USDA overhauls 50 year-old poultry inspections

MARY CLARE JALONICK · August 1, 2014 8:29 am

FILE - This Aug. 24, 2010 file photo shows chickens in Sparks, Md. The Obama administration is overhauling poultry plant inspections for the first time in more than 50 years, a move it says could result in 5,000 fewer foodborne illnesses each year. The final rules announced Thursday would reduce the number of government poultry inspectors by around a fourth. But those that remain will focus more on food safety than quality, requiring them to pull more birds off the line for closer inspections and encouraging more testing for pathogens. There would also be more inspectors checking the facilities to make sure they are clean. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

USDA overhauls decades-old poultry inspections

MARY CLARE JALONICK · August 1, 2014 1:10 am

Appeals court upholds labels on meat packages

MARY CLARE JALONICK · July 29, 2014 6:32 pm

Locally-grown foods look to bigger business

MARY CLARE JALONICK · July 16, 2014 6:45 pm

FILE - This Feb. 7, 2012 file photo shows a shopper walking down the canned soup aisle at a grocery store in Cincinnati. Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty _ a long-awaited federal effort to try and prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)

FDA prepping long-awaited plan to reduce salt

MARY CLARE JALONICK · June 17, 2014 4:41 pm

These undated handout images provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows labels for Chia Powder. Those who seek to make food healthier by adding chia powder should avoid several recalled brands that are linked to salmonella illnesses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The CDC on Friday issued a warning to consumers who may use chia powder, made from ground dried chia seeds and often added to smoothies and other foods. Some of the recalled brands are Organic Traditions, Green Smoothie Girl, Navitas Naturals and Williams-Sonoma. Twenty-one people in 12 states from New York to California have salmonella illnesses linked to the chia powder, the CDC said. Canada is also investigating illnesses related to the outbreak. (AP Photo/CDC) The CDC said chia powder can have a long shelf life, so people should check to see if they have the recalled products in their homes.

Chia powder linked to salmonella illnesses

MARY CLARE JALONICK · June 13, 2014 5:02 pm

House considers bill to waive school meal rules

MARY CLARE JALONICK · June 11, 2014 8:03 pm

White House threatens veto of GOP school meal bill

MARY CLARE JALONICK · June 10, 2014 9:59 pm

FILE - This Sept. 10, 2010 file photo shows the seafood counter in Whole Foods is shown in Hillsboro, Ore. The government is reminding pregnant women to stay away from certain fish that can be high in mercury. But the agency won't require package labeling on mercury content, which is what consumer groups had sought. The draft advice issued Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency is unlikely to clear up confusion over exactly what seafood pregnant women and young children should eat and what they should avoid. Consumer groups have sued the agency, saying its warnings haven't been clear enough about what fish could pose a risk. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FDA: Pregnant women should eat low-mercury seafood

MARY CLARE JALONICK · June 10, 2014 6:10 pm

A House Republican is pushing the federal government to change federal regulations so whole, unflavored milk can be sold at public schools again.

House panel votes to allow waivers on school meals

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 29, 2014 6:27 pm

FILE - This Oct. 10, 2013 file photo shows a truck entering the Foster Farms processing plant in Livingston, Calif. An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken company is ongoing after more than a year, with 50 new illnesses in the last two months and 574 sickened since March 2013. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are about eight new salmonella illnesses linked to the outbreak a week, most of them in California. So far, there has been no recall of Foster Farms chicken. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

5 things to know about salmonella in chicken

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 29, 2014 6:49 am

FILE - This Oct. 10, 2013 file photo shows a truck entering the Foster Farms processing plant in Livingston, Calif. An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken company is ongoing after more than a year, with 50 new illnesses in the last two months and 574 sickened since March 2013. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are about eight new salmonella illnesses linked to the outbreak a week, most of them in California. So far, there has been no recall of Foster Farms chicken. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California chicken still linked to salmonella

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 28, 2014 9:52 pm