Additional 218 Counties Designated As Primary Natural Disaster Areas

More than half of all U.S. counties have been named disaster areas

By James Limbach, ConsumerAffairs.com

There's no letup in the drought gripping much of the nation.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today signed disaster designations for an additional 218 counties in 12 states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat.

Counties designated today are in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. More than half (50.3 percent) of all counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought.

"The assistance announced today will help U.S. livestock producers dealing with climbing feed prices, critical shortages of hay and deteriorating pasturelands,” said Vilsack. “Responding to my request, crop insurance companies indicated that producers can forgo interest penalties to help our nation's farm families struggling with cash flow challenges."

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California Firm Recalls BBQ Chicken Salads for Possible Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination

By FoodSafety.gov

Huxtable's Kitchen, a Vernon, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 5,610 pounds of barbeque chicken salads. The salads contain diced onions that are the subject of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The product subject to recall is:

• 14.5-oz trays of "TRADER JOE'S BBQ CHICKEN SALAD."

The product subject to recall bears the establishment number "P-11079" inside the USDA mark of inspection. Each package also has a sticker with use-by dates through July 30, 2012. The product was produced between July 20, 2012, and July 24, 2012, and was distributed to retail establishments in Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California, Southern Nevada and Texas. When available, the retail distribution list will be posted on FSIS' website at www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp.

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