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.

Mexico City, May 16 (EFE).- Four Greenpeace activists scaled a monument in this capital on Thursday to unfurl a banner denouncing the use of genetically modified organisms in the cultivation of maize, Mexico's emblematic staple. The foursome climbed halfway up the Stela of Light, which stands 104 meters (341 feet) tall, hung the banner with the slogan NO OGM and remained for several hours before descending and driving away in a pickup truck. OGM are the initials of the Spanish translation of genetically modified organisms.

The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Monsanto Monday over an Indiana farmer accused of having pirated the genetically-modified crops developed by the agribusiness giant. The high court was unanimous in its decision, ruling that laws limiting patents do "not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission." The crux of the argument was over "patent exhaustion" which states that, after a patented item has been sold, the purchaser has "'the right to use (or) sell' the thing as he sees fit."

A hot cup of Ceylon tea is better known as being soothing and relaxing, but Sri Lanka is now marketing its most profitable export as a luxury boost for the libido. The tea industry is increasingly plugging Ceylon's supposed aphrodisiac qualities in a bid to radically change perceptions of the brew, which manufacturers say can sell for less than water in some markets.