Few threats addressed by the United Nations are as undiscriminating as foodborne pathogens, which don’t honor international borders or differentiate between first- and third-world status. Similarly few threats addressed by the international body are as easy to mitigate as food safety, at least in theory. 
Ajay Markanday is director of the…
FDA’s former top food cop now focused on food security
Editor’s note: Mike Taylor, who just left his post as deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, sent this message to friends and colleagues June 8 and granted Food Safety News permission to reprint it here. Since I announced my plans to leave FDA, a number of you have asked what I will do next. …
IAFP Interview: Kennedy on Food Security and Fraud
Shaun Kennedy, director of the Food System Institute and professor at the University of Minnesota, recently sat down with Food Safety News to discuss a number of topics related to food security and food fraud.
What challenges do we face with keeping the U.S. food system secure from intentional contamination? What foods are most susceptible…
Putting Science on the Table
I’m heartened by the fact that so many people are finally talking about food and nutrition security. There is increasingly widespread recognition that our growing population, increasingly volatile weather conditions, limited natural resources, and many other factors are straining our food and agricultural systems and will undoubtedly further complicate the significant challenge of achieving food…
Did You Eat Today? Thank a Food Worker
The most under-reported and neglected aspect of the good food movement is the 20 million workers who toil every day — often under inhumane conditions — harvesting fields, killing and cutting up animals, packing boxes, driving trucks, cooking meals, ringing up orders, serving tables and cleaning up the mess. Recognizing this reality is the idea…
Why Low-Income Countries Should Care About Food Safety
Food safety is one of the most ignored areas of policy in low-income countries, especially in Africa. As a result, food systems in these countries are not always as well organized and comprehensive as in the industrialized world. This situation is exacerbated by an ever-growing population, rapid urbanization and, most importantly, a lack of the…
U.S. Third In Food Safety After Israel and France
Safety is almost an asterisk in the Global Food Security Index, recently released by DuPont and the Economist Intelligence Unit. In an overall assessment of the affordability, availability and quality of food, the United States emerges as No. 1 overall, but America was bested by Israel and France in the “quality” category, where food safety…
US and China Sign 5 Year Ag Agreement on Food Safety, Security
The United States and China signed a five year agreement on food security, sustainable agriculture, and food safety at an agricultural symposium in Iowa Thursday.
“We are the world’s two largest agricultural producers and strong collaborators in agricultural research and education,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the event. “Our great trade relationship benefits the …
Assessing the Risk of Intentional Contamination
In what was the latest reminder that any nation’s food supply can be vulnerable to intentional contamination, CBS News recently reported the sketchy details of a supposed terrorist plot to slip poisons into restaurant and hotel salad bars and buffets.
Such an attack has long been considered a remote but theoretical possibility, especially in a …
CBS Reports Terrorists Might Target Food
CBS News reported it first on Monday night–that U.S. officials had gotten wind of a terrorist plot to slip poisons into hotel and restaurant salad bars and buffets in multiple locations during a single weekend.
Tuesday other news organizations chimed in, repeating the CBS assertion that intelligence reports indicated ricin or cyanide would be used …