In all the hubbub of the past few days, I never reported that Tuesday Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. bought the rights to the Emeril Lagasse franchise of cookbooks, television shows and kitchen products (but not Lagasse's 11 restaurants and corporate office) for $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock at closing. So Martha thinks she can kick it up a notch?

In other news, in a letter to the Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, seven consumer groups Tuesday urged the USDA to issue an emergency rule to allow the agency to identify all of the outlets that purchased recalled ground beef from the Hallmark/Westland company, the largest recall in U.S. history. The groups also urged the agency to finish a long delayed rule change that would require the agency to list retailers that sold recalled meat and poultry products in official recall announcements.

The letter was signed by the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Food & Water Watch, Government Accountability Project, and Safe Tables Our Priority. You can see it here.

Seems reasonable to me that consumers need more information during product recalls, not less. A USDA rule to make this change has been in the works for two years and, according to the agency, is now stuck in the departmental review process.