Biofuel push questioned as food prices soar. Alarmed by rising global food prices, some European leaders are rethinking their commitment to use ethanol fuel and are considering other policy changes to lower the costs of basic staples. [News Source]

Japan rules out major beef ban. Japan will not impose a blanket ban on U.S. beef imports, despite the discovery of a spinal column in a meat shipment from an American processing plant, a government spokesman said Thursday. [News Source]

FDA bans certain cattle parts from all animal feed. U.S. makers of pet food and all other animal feed will be prevented from using certain materials from cattle at the greatest risk for spreading mad cow disease under a rule that regulators finalized on Wednesday. [News Source]

Spinal column found in U.S. beef shipment (The Bismarck Tribune) TOKYO - Japanese officials said Wednesday that a spinal column was found in a U.S. beef shipment in violation of a trade accord that prohibits parts believed to pose a risk of mad cow disease. [News Source]

Contact 2 - Grass Fed Beef (FOX 2 News St. Louis) After E.coli and mad cow scares, and millions of pounds of meat being recalled this year alone, demand for safer, healthier beef is on the rise. Contact 2 traveled to Doniphan, Missouri, a small farming community that's home to American Grass Fed Beef, a farm owned by veterinarian Patti Whisnant and her husband Mark. Together they raise thousands of Angus cattle on one thing alone: grass. [News Source]