• Lawmakers in California are considering the possibility of a checkout alert system for foods that have been recalled. We'd rather see all the contamination scares come to an end, but it seems better than nothing. [LA Times]
• In the wake of a year rife with food contamination scandals, President Obama has promised to improve food safety. [NYT]
• Long before there were peanut product tainting issues, there were peanut allergies. The world has moved one step closer to dealing with the latter, after a study has shown that it's possible to gradually increase tolerance to peanuts. Now let's just hope that Obama and checkout alerts take care of the former. [USA Today]
• North Korea just got its first pizzeria, and it only took 10 years of planning! The question is less "will it be a success?", and more how many "let them eat pie" jokes will be made? [The Guardian]
• The Chicago foie gras ban of 2006 seems to have had much more to do with politics than with the merits of foie gras itself. [Chicago Tribune]
