Agriculture Daily News March 12

If you live in the United States and like spicy tuna rolls, Puerto Rican roast pork or Thai noodles, there is a good chance you are eating, and enjoying, MSG, says a brief history of the flavoring in the NY Times. Though the substance is used in dishes all over the world, the role of MSG in food, and its effects on health, remain controversial. 3/05/08

 

Though U.S. waterways nationwide are contaminated with residues of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, there is no national strategy to deal with them -- no effective mandates to test, treat, limit or even advise the public. Contra Costa Times 3/12/08

 

The nonprofit Teleosis Institute in Berkeley began a Green Pharmacy program in June. It credits that program with diverting more than 900 pounds of unused and expired medications from local waterways. People can bring unwanted medications to 14 Bay Area pharmacies and health offices, CC Times 3/12/08

 

So few salmon are living in the ocean and rivers along the Pacific Coast that salmon fishing in California and Oregon will have to be shut down completely this year unless an emergency exception is granted, Pacific Fishery Management Council representatives said Tuesday. SF Chronicle 3/12/08

 

A new study has found that California wildfires emit more greenhouse gases than previously believed largely through the post-fire decay of dead wood, a finding that is raising questions about how effective the state's forests are at storing carbon and slowing global warming. The study by Thomas Bonnicksen, a retired forestry professor at Texas A&M University, found that four major wildfires – from the Fountain fire near Redding in 1992 to the Angora blaze at Lake Tahoe last year – are responsible for the release of 38 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, far more than the 2 million tons the state estimates that fires produce on average each year. Sacramento Bee 3/12/08

 

The Metropolitan Water District board on Tuesday approved a 14.3% increase in the 2009 rates it will charge for imported water, a hike that will vary widely in the dollars it adds to Southern California household water bills. LA Times 3/12/08

 

The head of the Southern California slaughterhouse at the center of the largest beef recall in U.S. history acknowledged Wednesday that cattle were illegally slaughtered at his plant and that cows too sick to stand were forced into the food supply. AP 3/12/08

 

Stockton-based Diamond Foods Inc. on Tuesday reported 32 percent growth in profits for its fiscal second quarter, despite a 6.8 percent drop in sales and a substantial increase in the price it pays farmers for nuts. Sacramento Bee  3/12/08