Hmmmmmm. Interesting that the CDC couldn't find the source. That's somewhat reminiscent of the 1984 Rajneeshee food poisoning event in Dalles, Oregon. Albeit on a much smaller scale.

I hope this wasn't practice for something bigger...

Instead of CDC identifying the fast food outlet, Taco Bell, as the culprit -it's depicted as a "Mexican-style restaurant". I'm sure that was purposely confusing to consumers in Texas and Oklahoma -- where the majority of the poisonings occurred. Seems like federal watchdog turned lapdog policy is not to give too much information to consumers that might cast dispersions on major corporate brand names.

And DNADOC -- there's the source of the "conspiracy" you're looking for -- it's called protecting Big Business as Usual when once again things fall through the highly risky, industrialized food system cracks...

This concealment is outrageous! Food Safety News & Ms Rothschild, would you consider following up by requesting the information under Freedom of Information Act if necessary? I do understand that the CDC plays a secondary role in food safety. The FDA or USDA are really responsible to release the information to the public, since the CDC serves only the role of gathering the data. Would you consider going beyond the CDC and addressing this issue? I do not excuse the secrecy of the CDC, I am suggesting that there are several federal agencies involved and it would be appropriate to address more than just the CDC. I've pasted a passage from the CDC website describing their role in food safety:

CDC's Role in Food Safety

CDC leads federal efforts to gather data on foodborne illnesses, investigate foodborne outbreaks and monitor the effectiveness of prevention and control efforts. CDC is not a food safety regulatory agency but works closely with the food safety regulatory agencies, in particular, with FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. CDC also plays a key role in building state and local health department epidemiology, laboratory and environmental health capacity to support foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response. Notably, CDC data can be used to help document the effectiveness of regulatory interventions.

It may sound outrageous that CDC didn't identify the restaurant chain, but it's probably less sinster than you believe. Those of us in public health have to make the decision about whether including the name of a restaurant in a report or press release will serve any benefit. We definitely let people know if we're trying to identify more people who are sick, if the outbreak is continuing, or if it will allow people to take actions to protect themselves or stop the outbreak. Otherwise, there's no reason to villianize/jeopardize an establishment, whether it's locally owned or part of a large corporation. All that said, when someone asks, we tell them. We take our responsibilities seriously: protect public health and allow people access to public information.

Shannon, I do not doubt for a moment that you and your co-workers take public health seriously. However, the public has a right to know which establishment this is so they can decide if they want to go there to eat or not. Within a few days the information will get out - just like the last time the "Mexican-style Fast Food Restaurant A" was implicated. Why not simply let the public know now?

Bill, it's more about relationships and ethics, rather than the dark "let's hide things from the public" motivation that is often ascribed to us.

If we feel that there's nothing to be gained by naming an establishment, we don't include it in the information we send out. A reporter's role is to uncover more information; information that is easily given, but sometimes would not be responsible of us to volunteer.

At all levels of government, we have to answer to politicians, we have to maintain and foster relationships with the regulated community, and we have to go home at night feeling like we've done the right thing. Sometimes that means identifying an establishment as "Restaurant A."

It's time to stop the broadbrush villianization of government. People work at health departments because they care about their community and want to make a positive difference in the world, not because they want to protect multinational corporations.

Shannon -- As an Eater I fully believe that Eaters have a full right to know who is selling tainted food in the marketplace.
And while government often gets vilified for the toothlessness and lack of transparency in their "oversight" practices -- the fact is the food industry has long Occupied our "watchdog" agencies -- protecting their interests instead of ours...