Three of the four plants that manufacture the ammonium hydroxide-treated beef have stopped production for 60 days after the recent public outcry. But a new website attempts (we think without success) to debunk your fears. more ›

The American Meat institute insists that the ammonium-treated meat is perfectly fine. Chicago butcher and meat authority Rob Levitt won't touch it. more ›

The nutritionally-barren product, which is particularly susceptible to infection by food-bourne illness, was rejected by fast food restaurants earlier this year. more ›

We're not talking about Green City - we're talking about corporate buyers. In collaboration with the USDA, Chicago-based FamilyFarmed has created a program that helps small farmers break into big markets. more ›

McDonald's announced that they would no longer be selling beef treated with ammonium hydroxide - otherwise known as "pink slime." more ›

Another recall - not a great week for Illinois food producers. The Tribune reports that Walnut Cheese Company, based in Bureau County, IL, is recalling some batches of its mozzarella products because they may be contaminated with antibiotic residues. Yummy. According the the Illinois Department of Public Health, eating the contaminated cheese may cause "anaphylaxis, cardiac arrhythmia, endocrine abnormalities, and cutaneous eruptions," but no illnesses have been reported. more ›

Last week, the attention of many political junkies was fully occupied - in Illinois, by the passage of the law allowing same-sex civil unions and at the federal level, by the debate over the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. At the same time, two major pieces of food-related legislation made it through congress that some may have missed. The Child Nutrition Bill and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act both passed, with the former just awaiting a presidential signature and the latter needing house approval and reconciliation. Both bills contain provisions that the slow food and anti-poverty activist communities have been fighting for, but some analysts have argued that the bills have serious problems. Food writers care about politics too; belly up to our breakfast table and discuss. more ›

That last tidbit we wrote in our earlier post about Fulton's on the River being open for lunch tomorrow? We were wrong. They're open for dinner right now. The Health Department gave Fulton's the go-ahead to re-open, saying the restaurant passed its re-inspection "with not even a minor food safety violation noted." more ›