This weekend I continued to work on the Parker and Jarboe E. coli cases — both linked to the consumption of tainted romaine lettuce that was caused by E. coli O157:H7 contaminated cattle feces in the environment. I was also considering what our next move — short of litigation
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Killing two birds with one stone still works
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) presented an installment of its Virtual National Policy Conference series, titled “A New Day at USDA for Food Safety?” on Tuesday.
Speakers included Dr. Patricia Griffin, chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Sarah Sorscher,
Continue Reading Stakeholders reaffirm need for more modern meat and poultry policies
The Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), has earned a reputation as a change-agent for food safety. Pew’s latest goal is to bring “root cause analyses” to food safety. Today, it released a report on the subject, which itself is an offshoot of Total Quality Management (TQM).
Continue Reading Pew Report: Root Cause Analyses are ‘Critical to Preventing Foodborne Illnesses’
A recently announced interpretation of authority on mandatory recalls weakens food safety.
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision late last year not to order a mandatory recall of yellowfin tuna that sickened at least 50 people in 11 states threatens to undermine a crucial tool of last resort to
Continue Reading FDA should require recall of unsafe tuna to protect consumers
Editor’s note: This interview was originally published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and is reprinted here with permission.
The U.S.
Continue Reading ‘Tangible benefits’ from standards and testing include fewer illnesses
A group of major food companies, retailers, livestock producers, and trade and professional associations today announced a comprehensive framework to strengthen the stewardship of antibiotic use in food animals. The structure is the product of a two-year dialogue among stakeholders, moderated by Farm Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, to
Continue Reading Top players agree to develop plan for judicious use of antibiotics in animals
A representative from Kentucky said it was about consumers’ food choices. A coalition of food safety groups said it was a threat to public health — particularly children. The U.S. House just said no.
With a vote of 331-79, legislators from both sides of the aisle joined to crush an
Continue Reading House members ignore party lines, defeat raw milk measure
Citing an estimated 2 million U.S. illnesses caused annually because of contaminated meat and poultry and resulting health care costs of almost $6 billion, a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts is calling for renewed commitment from government and industry to reduce microorganisms before animals reach the slaughterhouse.
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Continue Reading Pew report encourages investments to reduce contamination
Enough went into the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to make the food industry queasy, but the new law’s limited reliance on third-party auditors is still enough to make consumer advocates feel about the same way — at least for a while. The FSMA’s final rule on Accredited Third-Party Certification
Continue Reading Third-party auditor certification: Not the only tool in the toolkit
Public health advocates concerned about how antibiotics used on farms impact increasing resistance, have long expressed the need for more on-the-ground data – particularly use by species. In May, the Food and Drug Administration proposed adding estimates of drug sales by animal species — cattle, swine, chickens or turkeys —
Continue Reading Comments in on FDA’s Plan to Collect Species-Specific Antibiotics Sales Data
