| GLOBAL: 'MNCs Gaining Total Control Over Farming' by Anil Netto, IPS News December 7th, 2007 Food security campaigners are now more concerned than ever that farmers are turning dependent on large multinational corporations (MNCs) for seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs while also becoming more vulnerable to pressures to produce genetically engineered crops. |
| IVORY COAST: The Bitter Taste of Cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire by Michael Deibert, IPS News December 3rd, 2007 In addition to funding conflict, cocoa revenues are believed to have been defrauded for enrichment of persons in both the government and rebel camps. Article also mentions the following corporations: Lev-Ci and Cargill. |
| COLOMBIA: Victims of Colombian Conflict Sue Chiquita Brands New York Times November 14th, 2007 Victims of Colombia’s civil conflict sued the banana importer Chiquita Brands International yesterday, accusing it of making payments to a paramilitary group responsible for thousands of killings. |
| US: Banana Workers Get $3.3M In Pesticide Case
AP November 7th, 2007 A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.3 million to six workers on Monday who claimed they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua operated by Dole Fresh Fruit Co. |
| US: Hearing on Beef Packaging Fails Activists' Smell Test by Rick Weiss, Washington Post October 30th, 2007 A congressional hearing on the use of carbon monoxide to keep meat looking fresh promises to be an odious affair. |
| US: Food Companies Face U.S. Probe Over Iraq Deals by Glen R. Simpson, Wall Street Journal October 16th, 2007 Prominent American food companies are under scrutiny in a federal probe of possible fraud and corruption in the military's food-supply operations for the Iraq war. |
| US: In Turnaround, Industries Seek Regulations by Eric Lipton and Gardiner Harris, New York Times September 16th, 2007 After years of favoring the hands-off doctrine of the Bush administration, some of the nation's biggest industries are pushing for something they have long resisted: new federal regulations. |
| US: FTC: Milk Ads Not Misleading by Sam Hananel, Guardian (UK) August 28th, 2007 Federal regulators have turned down a request from Monsanto Co. to take action against dairy companies that advertise milk as free of synthetic hormones. |
| EUROPE: A Genetically Modified Potato, Not for Eating, Is Stirring Some Opposition in Europe by Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times July 24th, 2007 Amflora potatoes, likely to become the first genetically modified crop in the last decade to be approved for growth in Europe, have become the unlikely lightning rod in the angry debate over such products on the Continent. |
| WORLD: A Way for Resource-Rich Countries to Audit Their Way Out of Corruption by Tyler Cowen, The New York Times July 12th, 2007 An Oxford economist has a new and potentially powerful idea: setting up an voluntary international charter to guide transparency efforts in resource-rich developing countries, in order to stave of corruption. |
| CHILE: Gold rush threatens glacier by Lucia Newman , Al Jazeera July 8th, 2007 A new gold rush is under way as mining companies seek to supply the ever-increasing demand for the precious metal from emerging economies such as India, and with reserves dwindling all over the world they are going to extraordinary lengths to extract it. |
| CHINA: The Growing Dangers of China Trade by Jyoti Thottam, TIME Magazine June 28th, 2007 Growing concerns over the safety of everyday goods manufactured in China and imported to the US have thrown into relief the problematic (and dangerous) differences in safety and regulatory standards between the two countries. |
| US: Starbucks in Ethiopia coffee vow BBC News Online June 21st, 2007 Starbucks has agreed a wide-ranging accord with Ethiopia to support and promote its coffee, ending a long-running dispute over the issue. |
| WORLD: Food Firms Accused of Pushing Toddler Milk by Bellinda Kontominas, Sydney Morning Herald June 9th, 2007 Food and drug companies are using aggressive marketing tactics similar to those used in the tobacco industry to circumvent advertising bans on infant formulas and sell milk drinks to parents. |
| IVORY COAST: Cocoa exports ‘fund’ Ivory Coast conflict by William Wallis and Dino Mahtani, Financial Times June 7th, 2007 After diamonds and timber, Global Witness, the London-based pressure group, has turned its sights on chocolate in a report that claims cocoa exports from Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer, have contributed to funding and prolonging the conflict there. |
| US: Another Chemical Emerges in Pet Food Case by DAVID BARBOZA, The New York Times May 9th, 2007 A second industrial chemical that regulators have found in contaminated pet food in the United States may have also been intentionally added to animal feed by producers seeking larger profits, according to interviews with chemical industry officials here. |
| US: KFC to tell customers of chemical in potatoes by Tim Reiterman, The Los Angeles Times April 25th, 2007 To resolve a suit by the state attorney general, the maker of Kentucky Fried Chicken agreed Tuesday to tell its California customers that its fried or baked potatoes contain a suspected carcinogen. |
| CHINA: China union says U.S. fast food chains broke wage law by John Ruwitch, Reuters April 4th, 2007 U.S. fast food chains, including McDonald's and KFC, broke minimum wage laws in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the state-backed labor union said on Wednesday, urging tougher enforcement of employment laws. |
| COLOMBIA: Colombia seeks extradition of 8 people in Chiquita payments to terrorists by Javier Baena, Union-Tribune March 23rd, 2007 Colombia's chief prosecutor said Tuesday he will demand the extradition of eight people allegedly involved with Chiquita's payments to right-wing paramilitaries and leftist rebels in a region where it had profitable banana-growing operations. |
| COLOMBIA: Colombia May Extradite Chiquita Officials by Simon Romero, New York Times March 19th, 2007 Colombian officials said over the weekend that they would consider seeking the extradition of senior executives of Chiquita Brands International after the company pleaded guilty in United States federal court to making payments to paramilitary death squads. |