On April 14, 2010, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) announced that he is introducing two amendments to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510. The aim of the amendments is to ease the burden that small farmers believe the bill will impose on them if passed. The amendments, if adopted,
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Alex Ferguson
Alex received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with a minor in Law, Societies, and Justice, from the University of Washington in 2006. He began his legal education at the Seattle University School of Law immediately after finishing his undergraduate studies; during law school, Alex received numerous accolades and honors. He was a Presidential Law scholar, a member of the Moot Court Board, and an Associate Editor on the Seattle University Law Review. In addition to his studies, he worked as a research assistant for Professor Gregory Silverman, a summer clerk in the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office, and a legal intern at the law firm of Marler Clark. He graduated, cum laude, in 2009. Alex has been published multiple times, including a recent article entitled Product Liability and Food in Washington State: What Constitutes Manufacturing?, published in the Spring 2009 volume of the Seattle University Law Review.
Foodborne Illness By The Numbers
Robert L. Scharff, with the help of funding from the Produce Safety Project at Georgetown University, recently published a study analyzing the financial impact of foodborne illness in the United States. Employing the same methods used by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) economists, Scharff estimates that the total cost of…
Who Benefits From Raw Milk?
April 2009, eleven Colorado residents develop Campylobacter infections after consuming raw milk sold through a cow share program. September 2009, thirty-five Wisconsin residents develop Campylobacter infections after consuming raw milk sold through a cow share program. November 2009, three persons in Washington State develop pathogenic E. coli infections after consuming…
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Tax Incentives for Food Safety
As a society we must accept the fact that large-scale food producers are motivated by money, not safety. They seek low production costs to bolster slim margins, not methods by which to rid food of illness-causing pathogens. In order to incentivize large-scale producers to make safer products, we must demand…
Melamine in Chinese Powdered Milk…Again
On December 31, 2009, the Chinese government-run Xinhua news agency announced that melamine was found in milk produced by the Shanghai Panda company. Initial reports indicated that the Shanghai Panda plant was shut down, three of the company’s top executives were arrested, and milk produced by the company was recalled…
A Long Way From Safe Chicken
“The USDA has moved at glacial speeds on controlling Campylobacter in the chicken industry,” so says Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Ms. Smith DeWaal’s remark succinctly captures the gist of two recent Consumer Reports studies on the safety of…
E. coli in Ground Beef not Victim’s Fault
No matter how many times I hear people blame victims for their ground beef-related E. coli O157:H7 infections, I continue to be surprised. The comments usually follow a set structure. Step one: the consumer should have known better. “We all know that ground beef is dangerous!” Step two: everyone knows…
S. 510: Laws without Effective Timelines?
“Maybe I’m just cynical.”
“Maybe I’m naïve about the inner workings of the legislative process.”
“After all, I’m still a fresh-faced-recent-law-school-graduate. What do I know about creating meaningful legislation that will change the American food supply for the better?”
These were all thoughts that danced through my head…
Dissecting Another False Meat Industry Claim
It’s not an easy time to be a meat producer. On October 3, 2009, the New York Times ran an exposé focusing on the meat industry, the dangers of E. coli O157:H7 contamination, and the ways in which contaminated ground beef forever changed the life of Minnesota resident Stephanie Smith. …
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Deadly Nuts/Deadly Crimes
In my home state of Washington, if a driver operates a vehicle in a reckless manner and kills another person in the process, the driver may be charged with the crime of vehicular homicide. Vehicular homicide is a Class A felony, punishable by up to life in prison, a fine…
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