Iowa: Who will survive?
POLITICO
No matter who wins, Iowa will reshape the Republican presidential race one week from today — almost certainly in ways that don't adhere to any semblance of a traditional political script.More

Gallup: Obama job approval surges
POLITICO
According to the latest Gallup tracking poll, more Americans approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing than disapprove for the first time since this summer.More

Lack of new campaign rules adds to outside spending groups' 2012 influence
The Hill
The lack of government regulation in the wake of the Citizens United decision has campaign-finance experts worried that outside groups will be spending like they never have before.More

Ron Paul's House record marked by bold strokes, futility
The Washington Post
The passage of House Resolution 2121, in fall 2009, unfolded without drama. It allowed for the sale of a customhouse in Galveston, Texas. The House debate took two minutes, and the vote took eight seconds. The ayes had it. But something historic was happening. On his 482nd try, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, had authored a bill that would become law.More

For Obama, Merkel holds key
The Wall Street Journal
As the election year beckons, President Barack Obama finds himself in this odd position: The most important figure in his re-election effort may well be German Chancellor Angela Merkel.More

It's World War III at the NLRB
POLITICO
Business and labor are at war over the troubled National Labor Relations Board, a site of many such previous clashes but now the flashpoint for unprecedented contentiousness.More

FMCSA submits hours of service final rule for publication
Federal Register
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has submitted its final rule concerning hours of service, mandatory rest periods and other issues pertinent to the trucking industry for publication in the Federal Register. The report details all the changes to the existing rules and outlines effective dates.More

California reminds truck owners of Jan. 1 emissions deadline
Truckinginfo
The California Air Resources Board is reminding owners of heavier diesel vehicles that new emission-reducing regulations go into effect Jan. 1, 2012, and many businesses might need to report compliance online.More

EPA reopens comment period on effluent rules
Federal Register
On Oct. 26, EPA published its final 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan and announced its 2011 Effluent Guidelines Reviews, as required under the Clean Water Act. Since publication, the agency has received several requests for additional time to submit comments. EPA therefore is reopening the comment period and will accept public comments on both actions for an additional 60 days.More

Congressional recess means end of US tariffs on ethanol
USAgNet
For the first time in three decades, the United States market will be open to imported ethanol as of Jan. 1, without protectionist measures.More

The role of trade in food security
The Atlantic
Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, wrote a report sharply criticizing greater trade liberalization, one goal of the World Trade Organization.More

US hopes to discuss beef issue after Taiwan's election
Focus Taiwan
The United States has expressed hope that Taiwan will take more substantive action on the dispute over imported U.S. beef after its Jan. 14 presidential election, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said Tuesday.More

Understanding the new food safety laws
InsuranceNewsNet.com
The Food Safety Modernization Act is the greatest expansion of food safety requirements and the FDA's powers over food safety issues in nearly 75 years. Anyone who handles, buys or sells food, and certainly anyone who prepares and serves food to consumers, needs to know a great deal about the FSMA.More

FDA seeks nominations for Food Advisory Committee
Office of the Federal Register
The Food and Drug Administration is requesting nominations for members with expertise in epidemiology, pediatric development, and analytical chemistry or food science to serve on the Food Advisory Committee, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of Regulations, Policy, and Social Sciences.More

Cantaloupe calamity top news of 2011
The Packer
What a difference one year — and one huge foodborne illness outbreak — can make. The positive stories of 2010 seem like a distant memory in the wake of 2011's Colorado cantaloupe catastrophe.More

Fair-trade proving anything but in growing $6 billion market
Bloomberg
Fair-trade labels are proving to be anything but fair in a world climate that is putting corporate profits above a mission-driving movement.More

Questions, perception prompt burger chains to ditch product
Sioux Falls Business Journal via Sioux Falls Argus Leader
McDonald’s and two other fast-food chains have stopped using an ammonia-treated burger ingredient that meat industry critics deride as "pink slime."

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Recalls span fresh spinach, sprouts, cheese
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Recent food recalls include fresh bagged spinach, alfalfa sprouts, cheddar cheese and more.More

Norovirus outbreaks lead to warning about food safety
Radio Iowa
The Iowa Department of Public Health has received reports of several medium to large outbreaks of probable Norovirus in at least five Iowa counties. The IDPH says three groups of people became ill after eating at a restaurant where several food handlers also had been sick.More