Wonder Brands recalls bread, buns

Wonder Brands Inc. is recalling a number of breads and buns because they may contain metal shards.

The 37 products under recall include Country Harvest, D'Italiano, Great Value, No Name and Wonder.

In a related recall, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said pieces of metal were found in salt from Compass Minerals Canada Corp.

Giant Tiger posted a recall of 16 Wonder Brands Inc. products and Costco posted a recall on its wholesale site on Oct. 29 for certain Wonder Brands Inc. products.

 Costco cited Compass Minerals’ salt as the reason for its recall.

Why has CFIA failed to issue recalls of breads and buns and perhaps other products containing Compass Minerals salt?

Feds win cherry patent case

 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has won a cherry-tree patent case in a United States federal court in Washington State.

The court ruled that a variety being sold as Glory is in fact Staccato, a variety developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food scientists at Summerland, British Columia.

Summerland Varieties Corp. holds exclusive rights to Staccato.

Gordon Goodwin, a grower who is also a pastor, said the Staccato cherry tree he grew was a gift from God and he patented it as Glory and licenced it to Van Well Nursery who marketed trees through Monson Fruit Co.

But genetic evidence proved Glory was in fact Staccato and was from a test plot that included another Summerland-developed variety called Sonata.

Having proven that Glory is Staccato, AAFC plans to pursue claims against Van Well, Goodwin and Monson for conversion, the unlawful possession and use of Staccato plant material for their own purposes, as well as false advertising and business interference, reported Country Life in B.C. magazine.

Staccato plant material and fruit are tightly controlled under a business arrangement between AAFC, SVC, and Stemilt Growers, the sole authorised U.S. packer and marketer of Staccato cherries.

Greenhouse growers select research head

 

The Ontario Greenhouse Growers marketing board has appointed
Daniel Terlizzese its lead for research, innovation and plant protection.

He has managed greenhouse crop growth and plant physiological measurements for the federal agriculture department and has designed research trials to improve crop production for Great Lakes Greenhouses.

His recent position as an Agronomist at Sollum Technologies involved enhancing crop growth and yield through dynamic LED lighting and collaborating on novel research projects.

He holds two science degrees from the University of Guelph.

The marketing board more than 170 members with more 4,100 acres growing peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.

PDCoV in Waterloo

 

 

There has been an outbreak of Porcine Delta Coronavius in a farrow-to-wean facility in the Waterloo Region, reports Swine Health Ontario.

Chatham-Kent approves backyard chickens

Chatham-Kent council has voted to allow a two-year trial allowing up to ten backyard chickens per property in rural and village settings.

A couple of councillors raised concerns about avian influeza carried by migrating waterfowl and an outbreak that would result in quarantine zones affecting commercial poultry producers.

Hog farmers remain cautious

Despite good news, hog farmers remain reluctant to expand production, reports Rabobank.

The good news is that pork consumption is increasing and feed and energy costs and inflation are declining.

Continuing trade issues, disease outbreaks in specific markets and potential local production shortfalls in Asia, South America and northern Mexico are prompting some producers to reconsider their rebuilding plans in the fourth quarter, the report said.

With the global sow herd holding steady in the third quarter of 2024, producers are responding to disease outbreaks in the European Union, South Korea and Russia. 

That factor alone limited herd rebuilding in the second half of the year despite biosecurity measures that allowed China to look forward to a return to herd growth in 2025, the report said.

OECD urges research instead of subsidies

 

Agriculture subsidies have declined since 2021 but remain near historic highs and are still not sufficiently directed at critical innovation, productivity and sustainability goals, according to a new report from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

A measure of farm subsidies across 54 countries, shows that total support at $1.2 billion per year during the 2021-23 period.

Support remains concentrated in a few large economies, with China at 37 per cent, the United States at 15 per cent, India at 14 per cent and the European Union at 13 per cent.

The share of estimated support dedicated to general services such as innovation, biosecurity or infrastructure averaged only 12.6 per cent of total support in 2021-23, down from 16 per cent a few years ago.

“Government efforts towards sustainable productivity growth in agriculture are a positive step forward, and can help to future-proof the sector,”said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.

“However, overall levels of farm subsidies remain high, and much of it is counter-productive to these key objectives. Smart reforms are the key to further progress.” 

To encourage innovation, governments are developing strategies and frameworks, investing in research and development, strengthening institutions, enhancing agricultural knowledge as well as innovation systems, and providing targeted incentives to producers to develop and adopt new production methods. 

Reorienting support could benefit such efforts, the report said.