The Environmental Protection Agency draft risk assessment on atrazine says the herbicide is harmful to animals and plants, despite decades of research suggesting otherwise. Agriculture groups responded to the draft last week, saying the EPA risk assessment is based on misguided science. Politico reports a final ruling could lead to a de facto ban on the use of atrazine by U.S. corn, sorghum and sugarcane growers, but that decision is likely years away. Still, the draft assessment sets up a drawn-out fight over whether research backs up the EPA’s preliminary reports findings that current atrazine levels are harmful to humans and the environment. A comment period on the draft will be open this summer. EPA says the agency plans to convene what will be the 14th Scientific Advisory Panel on atrazine next year, finalizing the report.

Chinese pork prices climbed to new records this week, according to government data, signaling its auctions of frozen pork reserves and other measures to boost production are doing little to cool the market. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports farmers are holding back pigs from slaughter as they work to rebuild herds after the industry was engaged in widespread culling two years ago. Additionally, stringent new environmental rules have forced many small-scale producers out of the market. As a result, Rabobank expects China to import a record 1.5 million metric tons of pork in 2016, possibly helping China to surpass Japan as the world’s top importer. The increase could be a boon for major pork exporters like the U.S. and Germany.

General Mills issued a recall of 10 million pounds of flour this week because of a possible link to an outbreak of E. coli. USA Today reports the outbreak has sickened 38 people in 20 states since December. The recall covers select bags of Gold Medal bleached and unbleached flour, bleached and unbleached Signature Kitchen flour, Gold Medal self-rising flour and Gold Medal Wondra quick-mixing flour. The Gold Medal brand is the most widely used flour in the United States, according to General Mills. The Centers for Disease Control found about half of the people sickened in the outbreak reported making something homemade with flour before becoming ill. General Mills noted no E. coli has been found in any of its flour products. The flour was milled at the company’s Kansas City, Missouri facility. General Mills noted flour is made by milling wheat, which is grown outdoors and carries the risk of bacteria and that the bacteria are killed by baking, frying or boiling.

The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday released the agency’s long-awaited voluntary guidance on salt intake for Americans. The draft guidance focuses on reducing the salt used in processed and restaurant foods by one-third over ten years. The FDA says the reduction is recommended because Americans get 70 percent of their sodium from those foods, according to the Hagstrom Report. The FDA says current average adult intake of sodium is approximately 3,400 milligrams per day, and the FDA’s goal is to reduce consumption to 2,300 milligrams per day. The FDA says the reduction would result in tens of thousands fewer cases of heart disease and stroke each year, as well as billions of dollars in health care savings over time. The FDA says the targets are voluntary because sodium is important to taste, texture and microbial safety.

The European Union will again attempt to reach a deal to reauthorize glyphosate next week. The EU has until the end of this month to approve the sale and use of glyphosate before the license expires June 30th. Politico reports the member countries may be seeking a very short-term extension of the authorization, pushing the final vote into next year. Doing so would allow Germany to sort out the “internal political wrangling” that is leading the country to abstain from the vote. However, the Glyphosate Task Force is calling for a full reauthorization, stating “there is no basis for anything less.” Meanwhile, a recent poll found British farmers indicated they prefer to leave the European Union, while listing the likelihood that glyphosate is going to be pulled from the market as another reason to go. The controversy over renewal stems from the International Agency for Research on Cancer listing glyphosate as likely a carcinogen, despite numerous reports that glyphosate is safe.

A global grain surplus will continue to pressure crop prices as this year’s harvest will expand to the second-highest on record. The International Grains Council says world grain production will be nine million metric tons more than forecasted in April as wheat crops improve in the European Union, the United States and Russia. Bloomberg reports the International Grains Council expects grain stocks will likely grow again, with much of the increase in China. Crop prices have dropped in the past three years on increased production, and the IGC expects global grain production will reach 2.015 billion tons in the season starting in July, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier. Global stockpiles will expand to a record 474 million tons, with China accounting for about 40 percent. The report predicts farmers around the world will gather 722 million tons of wheat, 0.7 percent higher than the April forecast but down 1.9 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, corn production is predicted at 1.003 billion tons, 3.3 percent larger than the last growing season.