Opinion
I have known of Mike Taylor since shortly after September 29, 1994. As Food Safety News reported in “Looking Back: The Story Behind Banning E. Coli O157:H7,” Taylor took the podium that day in San Francisco at the American Meat Institute’s annual convention to make his first, and arguably most significant, speech as the top… Continue Reading
Fact: Salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, with an estimated 1.4 million cases each year in the United States alone. This week, the CDC reported that 124 people in 12 states became ill with Salmonella and over 30 were hospitalized after being exposed to Foster Farms chicken between June of last year… Continue Reading
Opinion
Personally, as I said to the Los Angeles Times several months ago, “I think that anything that can poison or kill a person should be listed as an adulterant [in food].” Ignoring Salmonella in meat makes little, if any, sense. Even after the Court’s twisted opinion in Supreme Beef v. USDA, where it found Salmonella “not an adulterant per… Continue Reading
In 1993, 623 people in the western U.S. fell ill with a little-known bacteria called E. coli O157:H7. Ultimately, four children would die from their infections; many others suffered long-term medical complications. The bug was later traced to undercooked hamburger served at Jack in the Box restaurants. This outbreak thrust foodborne illness onto the national stage… Continue Reading
Opinion
“Salmonella on a raw uncooked product is not, in and of itself, a public health risk … Salmonella on a raw uncooked hamburger does not make it adulterated. It does not mean that the plant is not operating in an unsanitary way.” – Patrick Boyle, CEO of the American Meat Institute, in a 2002 Frontline interview… Continue Reading
A passenger traveling on an Air Canada flight this week discovered a sewing needle in the sandwich he was served en route from Victoria to Toronto. This isn’t the first time a needle has been found in a sandwich on a plane. Just two weeks earlier, the same problem was noted on four different Delta… Continue Reading
Wire bristles from grill cleaning brushes are finding their way into people’s food — and down their throats, according to a new report. Between August of 2011 and June of 2012, six people went to the hospital with internal injuries from wire bristles lodged in their necks or stomachs, according to this week’s Morbidity and… Continue Reading
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a series of prevention-based food safety policy measures, including a final rule designed to make FSIS aware of adulterated or misbranded food in the supply chain that is similar to FDA’s Reportable Food Registry; a proposed rule for earlier, more expansive traceback for E. coli; and… Continue Reading
This commentary was contributed jointly by John Munsell and Dr. Richard Raymond. Last week, James H. Hodges, Executive Vice-President at the American Meat Institute (AMI), ostensibly penned an opinion piece for Food Safety News titled “Wrestling With the Science of STEC”. You can read it here. But in case you are not inclined to go… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new, groundbreaking non-O157 E. coli policy, which classifies six new strains as adulterants and requires testing, will become effective 90 days later than originally planned, the Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Wednesday. The delay, which did not surprise industry insiders, will push back the routine sampling of the six… Continue Reading
A new study by food safety officials in India found that a high percentage of milk in the country is either watered down or adulterated with dangerous additives, according to Reuters. The study was conducted this month by the food safety and standards authority of India. The results do not bode will for milk drinkers…. Continue Reading