Opinion

About a decade ago, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service deployed a diverse task force to look at risk-based inspection.

The first meeting was not very productive. Dr. Richard Raymond, then the undersecretary for food safety, was not expecting much better for the second session. Then Joe Harris began
Continue Reading Letter From The Editor: A full plate for the Southwest Meat Association

GALVESTON, TX — The $2 billion hog market slaughter industry will get more flexibility, and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will have greater inspection oversight.Mindy Brashears, the USDA deputy undersecretary for food safety, says the long-awaited swine modernization program is going be reality by year’s end.

Brashears, still new
Continue Reading Brashears promises data, science and food safety modernization at FSIS

Meeting with people outside the federal government usually means hearing about somebody’s else’s agenda, but USDA’s top food safety officials apparently think it can be a two-way street.

During this past December and January, Carmen Rottenberg and Paul Kiecker have used their meetings with outside parties to promote USDA’s Food
Continue Reading USDA’s acting officials use face time to promote agency agenda