Keeping food supply safe requires strong system, vigilance (Yakima Herald-Republic) This feature is under development and will be available soon. This editorial appears in the Yakima Herald-Republic on May 28, 2009. If you think the federal government has taken the steps needed to limit future disease outbreaks among livestock, think again. [News Source]

A Long, Dark Tunnel Hints of Light (DTN / The Progressive Farmer) Is there light at the end of the Japanese beef/BSE tunnel? [News Source]

Doctors feel pressure as flu threat increases (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) The number of confirmed cases of human swine flu in Australia is rising and the pressure is beginning to be felt by local GPs. [News Source]

Ag Secretary wants more livestock tracking participation (Louisville Courier-Journal) U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a group of Kentucky farmers today that he supports the controversial National Animal Identification System that is currently voluntary but some producers fear will be made mandatory. [News Source]

Beef, pork exports near record levels in 2008; now, roller-coaster markets headed down (Kearney Hub) KEARNEY — John Hinners didn’t use a roller coaster analogy Tuesday during his U.S. Meat Export Federation report at the Nebraska Beef Council Board of Directors meeting. [News Source]

GFC tops clear, present dangers (The Australian) THERE are several fashionable views about the global financial crisis [News Source]

Swine flu: it’s what’s for dinner. If we demand more wholesome and environmentally friendly food, then the producers of our food will give it to us. If we allow for our environment and the health of our planet to be defiled in the name of profit, then that is what we will get. [News Source]

Russian watchdog stands by bans on U.S. meat. Russia's farm produce watchdog said it will not yield to U.S. attempts to make it lift health-related import bans on meat imports, saying the measures stem from real safety concerns, not politics. [News Source]

World animal health body eases Japan’s BSE status. The world animal health body OIE said on Tuesday it had eased Japan's status on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease to "controlled risk", a move that should boost meat trade with the Asian country. [News Source]

Saving face: How safe are cosmetics and body care products? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees the multi-billion-dollar-a-year cosmetics industry but it lacks the power to approve products or ingredients before they hit store shelves, even though their contents have been shown to enter the body. [News Source]