President Trump plans to nominate Susan Monarez to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a post on his social media platform.
Monarez is not a medical doctor but does hold a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology. She has 20 years of experience in government
Continue Reading Trump announces pick to lead CDC
— OPINION —
The cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services today make a mockery of the “Make America Healthy Again” slogan by arbitrarily decimating new staff in key public health agencies who might actually implement the slogan.
The firings impact staff across HHS and affect thousands of
Continue Reading Firing of thousands of health agency employees will undermine food safety
By Brendan Fischer and Maggie Christ
Despite what you might think, America’s broken campaign finance system is about more than expensive ads flooding your screen and glossy mailers clogging your mailbox. The outsized role of money in politics has a real-world impact, with elected officials too often prioritizing
Continue Reading Senator’s Call for Meat Industry’s Answers Exposes Reach of Money in Politics
President Trump’s executive order keeping meat plants open during the COVID-19 pandemic is a further threat to the health of the women and men who produce our food. The order would gut any incentive that companies do the right thing to protect the workforce, and instead push risks onto
Continue Reading Trump’s order to keep meat plants open gives big business a loophole
Editor’s note: This guest column was written by Senior Director of Health and Food Erik Olson and Interim Food Director Lena Brook of the Natural Resources Defense Council. (In an earlier version of this post, FSN incorrectly identified the NRDC. The acronym stands for Natural Resources Defense Council.)
We
Continue Reading When lettuce becomes unhealthy, it’s time to rethink food safety in the U.S.
Although her appointment is stalled in the U.S. Senate with hundreds of others, the nomination of Mindy Brashears as the next U.S. Under Secretary for Food Safety puts a real face on the long-time vacancy.
It’s been four years and 10 months since Elisabeth Hagen stepped down as the Under
Continue Reading The leadership burden at FSIS gives Senate another reason to take action
UPDATED: So far, so good. Secretary Perdue has named, on a temporary basis, two USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) career employees to the top jobs. Paul Kiecker is acting FSIS administrator and Carmen Rottenberg is acting deputy undersecretary for food safety.
A couple days ago we ran Al
Continue Reading Letter From The Editor: Fill USDA’s top food safety posts now
President Trump seems to be spending most weekends at his “Southern White House” golfing. I wonder if he eats the food there or heads to the closest McDonald’s or KFC? Or, perhaps he will start using Steve Bannon as a food tester?
Jose Lambiet, the Miami Herald’s gossip columnist reported
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Make America Barf Again
It looks like “The Donald” is trying to expand his bromances from Vladimir Putin to a broader group of guys — including me. In a Trump fact sheet posted online Thursday, which was then removed and saved thanks to @nycsouthpaw, the campaign highlighted a number of “specific regulations to be
Continue Reading My bromance with ‘The Donald’: To hell with food safety
