China Rejects Over Half-a-Million Tons of US Corn After Finding an Unapproved Genetically Modified Strain

Winnipeg Free Press

BEIJING, China - China has rejected 545,000 tons of imported U.S. corn found to contain an unapproved GM strain, the country's product safety agency announced Friday. Details here.

Outsourcing is Short-Sighted

Winnipeg Free Press

My initial impression upon reading your Dec. 16 editorial Gear Canada to create new jobs was that the writer was indulging in sarcasm. Sadly, as I read on I realized that the message is that manufacturing and agricultural jobs are better off going off-shore, allowing goods to crisscross continents and oceans before landing on our plates or stores. Details here.

Legal Expert Warns Canada-EU Trade Agreement Could Damage Sovereignty

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

The draft agreement "will provide foreign investors into Canada with the most investor-friendly set of corporate rights ever drafted by the Canadian government into a treaty. " Full story here.

IISD legal expert, Howard Mann

In Northern Gateway Pipeline Decision, Economics Trumped All Else

Inside Climate News

"Canadians will be better off with this project than without it." - Review Panel. Details here.

Related: "Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel doesn’t address aboriginal concerns, says federal adviser"

"Gateway Pipeline Recommendations Ignore Citizens - PLEASE TAKE ACTION!"

We Need a Mandatory Ban on Sub-Therapeutic Doses of Antibiotics for Livestock—in the US (and Canada! PLT)

Organic Consumers Association 

More than 36 years ago the U.S. Food & Drug Administration acknowledged there was a problem with the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms. In March 2012, the courts forced the FDA's hand. Finally, last week, the  FDA announced a plan to curb the routine use of sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics to treat and fatten up livestock on factory farms. But the mostly voluntary, loophole-riddled “plan” falls far short of what scientists say is needed to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that now pose a real and widespread danger to public health. Details here. 

Related: "Food and Drug Administration in the US Moves To Phase Out Widespread Use Of Antibiotics In Meat"

Chemicals Causing Cancer and Infertility Found at Fracking Sites

Huffington Post

Hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer, infertility and a slew of other health problems have been found in water samples collected at and near hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," sites in Colorado, according to a new study published in the journal Endocrinology this week. Details here.