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Contributing Writers

David Gumpert

David Gumpert

David E. Gumpert is a journalist who specializes in covering the intersection of health and business. His popular blog, www.thecompletepatient.com, has chronicled the increasingly unsettling battles over raw milk. He is author of “The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights” and his newest book, due out in June, is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Food Rights: The Escalating Battle Over Who Decides What We Eat”. He has previously been a reporter and editor with the Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, and the Harvard Business Review.

Articles Written by David Gumpert

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How the Vernon Hershberger Food Licensing Trial Could Shift Views on Food Safety

By David Gumpert |

Opinion

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On its face, the upcoming trial of Vernon Hershberger, which starts today, is about food and dairy licensing and the Wisconsin farmer’s refusal to seek out certain permits. Hershberger is accused of four criminal misdemeanors. The first three include failing to have a retail food establishment license, operating a dairy farm as a milk producer without… Continue Reading

FDA Hones in on Limited Raw Milk Cheese Despite Absence of a Single Documented Case in 23 Years

By David Gumpert |

Opinion

(I have spent much of the last week reading a 189-page report issued jointly by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada, with the dry title, “Joint FDA/Health Canada Quantitative Assessment of the Risk of Listeriosis from Soft-Ripened Cheese Consumption in the United States and Canada”. The reading is as dry as the… Continue Reading

Without Fanfare, CDC Reports Sharp Decline in Foodborne Illnesses

By David Gumpert |

Opinion

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Wouldn’t you think that a one-third decline in reported foodborne illnesses would be a cause of celebration at the agency responsible for educating us about unsafe food? Well, if not a celebration, at least a slight smile, a teeny bit of self congratulation, maybe a soft exhale? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control just reported… Continue Reading

Have the Feds Finally Found Food Producers They Can Throw the Book At?

By David Gumpert |

Though Peanut Corp of America has been cited for responsibility in nine deaths and more than 700 illnesses from Salmonella in its peanut butter, its president, Stewart Parnell, has remained seemingly immune from prosecution nearly three years after the fact.   Same with Austin “Jack” DeCoster of Wright County Egg, which was linked to as… Continue Reading