SASKATOON - Canada's food watchdog is planning to impose tougher rules to deal with the threat of E. coli in slaughterhouses. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will strengthen E. coli testing in federally inspected establishments that use raw beef. Testing will increase between April and October — considered barbecue season.

DOWNSIZING: The House and Senate Agriculture Committees have laid the groundwork this week for reducing the size of the federal food stamp program, approving farm bills that would shrink the aid and alter the way people qualify for it. BIG CUTS: The House legislation would cut food stamps about $2.5 billion a year, or about 3 per cent. A Senate bill would cut less than a fifth of that amount. Last year more than 47 million people used the program.

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study offers evidence to support what many people have learned for themselves: never go grocery shopping when you're hungry. Researchers found that people who hadn't eaten all afternoon chose more high-calorie foods in a simulated supermarket than those who were given a snack just before online food shopping.

Caracas, May 13 (EFE).- The Venezuelan government said Monday that this week a shipment of 760,000 tons of food will arrive in the country, all of it being the product of agreements reached during President Nicolas Maduro's recent tour through countries of the Mercosur trade bloc. "On this visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil we arrived at some agreements ... (for) the first month of the food reserve, which is comprised of 760,000 tons," the minister responsible for food supplies, Felix Osorio, told state television.