California produced a bumper crop of corn in 2007, with production climbing 98 percent thanks to factors such as an increased demand for ethanol, a corn product used as a clean-burning additive for gasoline. Soaring demand for grains in China, India and other Asian markets and a growing thirst for biofuels have doubled the price of corn, said Tom Koehler, vice president of Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol. Contra Costa Times 2/12/08
Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc., Kroger Co. and six other grocery store chains must face consumer lawsuits alleging they sold farm-raised salmon that was dyed pink, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The justices unanimously overturned lower court rulings that threw out deceptive-marketing lawsuits concerning the fish. Contra Costa Times 2/12/08
Ripple effects of the nation's largest meat recall ever are being felt throughout East Bay school districts, with many of them holding off serving any beef products as a precaution. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who heads the agriculture appropriations subcommittee, said she plans to hold hearings March 5 and 13 about the issue "so that we can take steps to ensure that the school lunch program does not become the industry dumping ground for bad meat." CC Times 2/20/08
Trader Joe's will stop offering some Chinese-grown food products because of customer concerns about safety, the grocery chain announced Monday. Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from mainland China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain. CC Times 2/12/08
Federal investigators concluded after a study last year that the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin was "ill-prepared to respond to a spill, catastrophic or otherwise." The report, released Tuesday, was based on an October 2007 review at the agency's Mill Valley plant by inspectors for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who targeted the plant because of its higher-than-average spill rates. CC Times 2/13/08
A review in the CC Times of Iron Chef Morimoto’s new cookbook. 2/13/08
Bay Area cities and counties could face hundreds of millions of dollars in higher annual costs to eliminate industrial chemicals called PCBs from storm runoff, under pollution limits adopted Wednesday by a state water board. Responding to health concerns about people who eat PCB-laden fish, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted the first-ever mass limit on PCBs entering the Bay. CC Times 2/14/08
California agricultural authorities announced Wednesday plans to spray a pesticide in cities in the Bay Area and Central Coast to stop a crop-eating moth. The aerial spraying, intended to disrupt the pest's mating cycle, would start this summer. The sprayings in San Francisco are expected to begin Aug. 1. Other infested areas to be sprayed as early as June include Oakland, Emeryville, Albany, Piedmont, El Sobrante, Daly City, Colma, Tiburon, Belvedere and Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. CC Times 2/14/08
California will require reporting of severe cases of staph infections, including an antibiotic resistant "superbug" known as MRSA, health officials announced Thursday. But some health advocates are upset that the new reporting requirements will apply only to staph infections acquired in the community, which represent about 20 percent of such cases. CC Times 2/15/08
Officials wasted no time Thursday notifying the public of a 1,500-gallon spill of raw sewage from San Quentin State Prison into San Francisco Bay. San Quentin's public information officer, said the spill occurred when a sump pump in the prison's lower parking lot malfunctioned at 9:50 a.m. The prison reported to the state Office of Emergency Services that an estimated 1,500 gallons of untreated sewage overflowed into San Francisco Bay. California law requires that spills of 1,000 gallons be reported to the state. Marin Independent Journal 2/14/08
A water advisory has been lifted around San Quentin after 1,500 gallons of raw sewage escaped from the state prison there last week. Health officials say water tests show contamination levels are now low enough to meet state requirements. SJ Mercury 2/18/08
Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. reported Thursday that its profits soared and sales jumped during the fourth quarter of 2007. The Emeryville-based coffee roaster earned $3.3 million, or 23 cents a share during the quarter -- a 53 percent boost compared with $2.2 million during the same period the previous year. CC Times 2/15/08
Almond industry officials look forward to another strong year for the $2.5 billion California crop as the crucial annual bloom begins to pop. Despite January wind storms that downed some trees in northern Sacramento Valley orchards, statewide this year more acres than ever are expected to yield the nuts. Experts expect a bout 50,000 acres of new almond plantings to begin bearing this season, so overall California acreage will continue to rise. CC Times 2/15/08
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