Mary Clare Jalonick Posts

The giant African snail damages buildings, destroys crops and can cause meningitis in humans. But some people still want to collect, and even eat, the slimy invaders.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the final rule on a new inspection system for poultry products. The system will transfer a majority of poultry inspections from government inspectors to self-policing by the companies themselves.

The House considered legislation on Wednesday that would allow some schools to opt out of healthier meal standards — a proposal that has drawn a veto threat from the White House. The GOP spending bill on the House floor would allow schools to waive the school lunch and breakfast standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama for the next school year if they lost money on meal programs over a six-month period.

House Republicans are proposing to let some schools opt out of healthier school lunch and breakfast programs if they are losing money. A GOP spending bill for agriculture and food programs released Monday would allow schools to apply for waivers if they have a net loss on school food programs for a six month period. Championed by first lady Michelle Obama, the new standards have been phased in over the last two school years, with more changes coming in 2014. The rules set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on foods in the lunch line and beyond.

Nearing the legislative finish line after more than two years of bickering, the House passed and sent to the Senate Wednesday an almost $100 billion-a-year farm bill containing a mostly symbolic cut in food stamps and preserving most crop subsidies. The bill would cut about $800 million a year from the $80 billion-a-year program, or around 1 percent. The House had sought a 5 percent cut.

Doctors are warning that if Congress cuts food stamps, the federal government could be socked with bigger health bills. Maybe not immediately, they say, but over time if the poor wind up in doctors' offices or hospitals as a result.

The FDA will phase trans fats out completely over the coming years, saying there are absolutely no health benefits to the substance, once ubiquitous in baked goods and industrially-produced foods.

Amid incidents of pets dying from dog treats, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing long-awaited rules to make pet food and animal feed safer.

The Agriculture Department is cracking down on dog breeders who sell puppies over the Internet with new regulations that will force them to apply for federal licenses.

The rules announced Tuesday would subject dog owners who breed more than four females and sell the puppies online, by mail or over the phone to the same oversight faced by wholesale animal breeders.

The GOP-led House tries to push through a farm bill with the food stamp provisions removed. President Obama and House Democrats oppose the truncated measure, seeing it as just a ploy to cut aid to the hungry and poor even further.

The White House is threatening to veto the House version of two incredibly controversial legislative pushes: the $100-billion-per-year farm bill and a measure to ban all abortions after 20 weeks.