Correction: When originally posted, we inadvertently included the $700 billion for SNAP, which is a ten-year estimate, not an annual figure. SNAP’s annual cost, as of 2016, was $71 billion, meaning the 1 percent fraud rate translates into $710 million annually, and the 7 billion is the ten year
Continue Reading Letter from the Editor: FOIA exemption will keep cash payments secret, not more secure
On June 8, 2018, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised the public of an outbreak of Salmonella Adelaide that eventually sickened 77 people in nine states.
Most of the outbreak victims reported eating pre-cut cantaloupe, watermelon or a fruit salad mix with melon purchased from grocery stores.
Continue Reading Caito’s response to earlier FDA inspection observations did not prevent Salmonella problem
Note on the author: Carmen Rottenberg, administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service posted this alert today.
As the head of a public health agency that ensures the safety of meat and poultry, food safety is my number one priority. Americans depend on us to keep their
Continue Reading Setting the record straight: USDA says your meat and poultry are safe to eat
Stockholders’ attorneys say Chipotle Mexican Grill and federal officials knew about multiple foodborne illness outbreaks linked to the restaurant chain in 2014-15, but did not inform the public.
Using Freedom of Information Act requests, the attorneys representing the Chipotle stockholders pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for details
Continue Reading Chipotle stockholders’ suit says company, CDC kept secrets
Food & Water Watch has filed suit against the USDA because the agency will not release the names of companies that have applied to switch to a voluntary program that allows for non-government poultry inspections.
A USDA poultry inspector checks carcasses as the production line moves.
Continue Reading Watchdog group sues USDA for names of poultry companies
Before the federal Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention went public with the first announcement of a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, the boss let everyone working on foodborne diseases know there was one “notable thing” about the brewpub chain involved.
“Advance notification that ’tis the season again,” said
Continue Reading One more look at lessons unlearned in raw burger outbreak
Privacy was the winner in a Court of Appeals case a few days ago in the 8th U.S. Circuit with a unanimous ruling against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 
A three-judge panel ruled against EPA’s practice of collecting private information from farmers and ranchers and then turning it over to
Continue Reading Farmers and ranchers get their privacy back
Seven years in the making, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is about to begin quarterly releases of establishment-specific data for inspection and enforcement actions as well as sampling and testing results. “FSIS’ food safety inspectors collect vast amounts of data at food producing facilities every day, which we
Continue Reading FSIS moves establishment specific data to open government portal
