A new bill on its way to President Obama’s desk for approval aims to improve protections for whistleblowers working in the federal government, including those in food-related areas such as veterinarians, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors and U.S. Food and Drug Administration employees. On Tuesday, Congress passed the Whislteblower Protection Enhancement Act to help ensure that whistleblowers will be safe from retaliation if reporting industry violations. In a statement praising the bill, the Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign listed a number of examples in which professionals working at the federal level would receive whistleblower protection: – A public health veterinarian reporting to his/her USDA supervisor that a slaughterhouse repeatedly violated humane handling regulations – An FDA inspector who tries to expose falsification of Salmonella records at a cantaloupe farm – A Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) district office manager reporting frequent complaints by FSIS poultry inspectors that increased line speeds have made it impossible for workers to pull all potentially contaminated birds off the line – An FDA researcher whose attempts at publishing new findings on a controversial food ingredient are stifled by upper management Still, the new protections only cover federal food employees, the statement noted. The 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act also extends protections to corporate employees exposing problems with FDA-regulated products. “However, USDA-regulated product industry workers still lack protections,” the statement read. “These workers — who monitor our beef, poultry, pork and egg products — still cannot safely speak up for the public welfare.”
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The government in the United Kingdom has been urged to follow the European Union’s lead and curb Brazilian meat imports.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) called on the UK
Four men have been arrested in connection with an investigation into illegal meat in England.
An operation by Dudley Council and the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) resulted in the
A bill introduced in recent days in the U.S. Senate would overhaul food labels for the first time in more than 30 years.
The bill, the Food Labeling Modernization
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
Corte Argentino USA LLC of Aventura, FL, is recalling 29,628 pounds of raw beef products that were imported from Argentina without the benefit of import reinspection into the United
Shan Distribution Network Inc. of Carol Stream, IL, is recalling 5,084 pounds of frozen breaded Swai fish fillet and stick products because they were produced in the United Arab
Public health authorities in Malta are investigating four cases of hepatitis A associated with a food establishment.
People who ate at Deli and Co in Ħal Qormi, between June 17
Coaticook brand white cheddar cheeses are being recalled in Canada because of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
There are 33 products covered by the recall. The products were distributed in Quebec.
