Week in Review, Jan. 22

On his first day in office, President Obama blocked rules on mandatory country-of-origin labeling reportedly because it blurred the distinction between US and foreign meats (1). Four Mainers were sickened from eating peanut butter tainted with salmonella, a bacterial infection usually transmitted by animal feces (2). MSNBC's Rachel Maddow used a citrus cutting board apparently made in the Maine correctional facility to make cocktails (3). An intoxicated man crashed a Zamboni at the Portland Civic Center (4).

A Mainer passed on eating puffin in Iceland (5), a professor said, "If Olive had olives then this town's greasy spoons would really have something to worry about" (6), and a columnist found free drinks harder to resist than bacon (7). A blogger said that chairs at Borealis Bread reminded her of elementary school (8) and only the corn chowder at Morrison's was worth eating (9). Barber Foods recalled its Stuffed Chicken Breast Roast with Rib Meat after a customer reported finding plastic in the food (10).

An aspiring dairy farmer said the U.S. had the safest food chain in the world (11), dairy subsidies did not appear to benefit cider and sauerkraut makers (12), and lacto-fermented produce was sold at the winter farmers markets (13). A dairy industry lobbyist said, "When the dairy farmers struggle, [feed dealers and equipment dealers] struggle as well’’ (14). Gawkers were said to be more of a problem than bare breasts by a man named Boober (15).