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January 24, 2012
Editorial: Food safety auditors too tied to industry
"The system has an inherent conflict of interest: While retailers generally require audits before buying from a supplier, the suppliers often hire and pay the auditors who evaluate them. It's like authors hiring their own book reviewers."
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January 24, 2012
Opposing view: Food safety is more than about audits
"Food safety has always been the highest priority for the people who grow, ship and sell our nation's fresh fruits and vegetables. Recognizing there is no one solution, we take a holistic approach to food safety, constantly strengthening best practices, identifying knowledge gaps, creating new guidance on growing, handling and processing, and developing new "field to fork" training programs."
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November 11, 2011
Editorial: "Listeria outbreak cries for changes, not hysteria"
"The cantaloupe-caused outbreak of listeria created a tragedy for those infected by the bacteria and for their families. As of the end of last month, the death toll had risen to 28, the number of reported illnesses had climbed to 133, and one infected woman miscarried."
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October 27, 2011
Editorial: "Tainted fruit"
Unsanitary conditions at a Colorado processing plant led to the first U.S. case of listeria spreading via whole fruit.
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October 18, 2011
Editorial: "Fully fund food safety"
"Among the hazards that face Americans each day, eating cantaloupe is low on the list for anyone who isn't allergic to it. Yet 23 people across the country died recently, and hundreds of others were sickened from eating cantaloupes contaminated by listeria."
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October 14, 2011
Editorial: "Invest in what we eat"
"Cantaloupe is the latest food contamination scare for American consumers. With at least 23 deaths from listeria linked to Colorado cantaloupes, it is the deadliest U.S. outbreak of foodborne illness in a quarter-century."
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August 16, 2011
Op-Ed: "Food safety system needs strengthening"
"The recent recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey potentially contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is yet just another grim reminder that contaminated food continues to make its way into the marketplace and onto our dinner plates."
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July 08, 2011
Editorial: "The food we eat"
Slashing food safety programs could reverse the downward trend of foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S.
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July 01, 2011
Editorial: "Food Fight"
"In 2008 and 2009, a salmonella outbreak at a south Georgia peanut processing factory killed nine people and sickened over 700."
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June 26, 2011
Editorial: "GOP's food safety cuts put U.S. at risk"
"In a sop to industry disguised as a cost-cutting measure, GOP House members earlier this month gutted a food safety law designed to step up inspections, give the government more power to issue recalls and to require imported food to meet U.S. standards."
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June 12, 2011
Editorial: "The poisoned plate"
The devastating impact of foodborne illness in the U.S. and abroad calls into question how safe our food really is.
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June 07, 2011
Editorial: "Food safety"
"To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes that the deadly E. coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, 21 of them in Germany, has not affected the U.S. food supply."
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January 09, 2011
Editorial: "Don't mess with food-safety law"
"The ink was barely dry on the food-safety bill President Barack Obama signed into law when some congressional Republicans began looking for ways to water it down."
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December 13, 2010
Editorial: "Food for thought"
After decades of unchanging guidelines, Congress finally has acted to improve nutrition in school meals, and is poised to pass the first major update in food-safety rules in more than seven decades.
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December 13, 2010
Editorial: "Food shouldn't make us sick"
Looking back at this age of the killer omelet, future historians may puzzle over Congress' long-standing inability to pass a food-safety bill.
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December 08, 2010
Editorial: "Investing in food safety saves lives"
The last things we want to worry about over the holidays are food safety hazards, such as salmonella or E. coli in poultry, eggs, meat or peanut products, fruits and vegetables.
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December 03, 2010
Op-ed: "We can't afford to ignore food safety"
The Senate passed last week the Food Safety Modernization Act that stiffens enforcement, tracking, inspections and gives the Food and Drug Administration recall power (that's right, the FDA only has the power to "ask" food items be recalled; it can't mandate).
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December 01, 2010
Editorial: "Food safety bill won't hurt Vt. farms"
Local and organic food advocates in Vermont say a food safety bill that passed the Senate, Tuesday, offers protections for small-scale producers, while improving the safety of the nation's larger food system.
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November 11, 2010
Editorial: "More rotten eggs"
Bad eggs are in the news again with the recall this week of more than a quarter of a million of them from eight states because of Salmonella concerns.
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November 03, 2010
Editorial: "Food Safety on Washington's Plate"
Votes have been cast and as a mother (and wife and daughter and sister and friend and coworker), I’d like our elected leaders in Washington to make progress on issues, like spurring jobs growth, that impact families across the country.
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September 05, 2010
Op-ed: "Egged on to a better food system"
Jennifer Wilkins of the Albany Times Union in New York describes how the recent outbreak of foodborne illness linked to contaminated eggs is drawing attention to the need for food safety reform.
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August 27, 2010
Editorial: "Tainted eggs, broken system"
The Virginian-Pilot calls for legislators to take action on food safety reform in the wake of the recent Salmonella outbreak related to contaminated eggs.
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August 26, 2010
Editorial: "Food fit to eat"
The Philadelphia Inquirer looks to the Senate to move forward with food safety legislation reform in the wake of the recent outbreak of Salmonella linked to eggs.
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July 29, 2010
"Food safety reform could prevent illness"
History has shown that with warm weather comes an uptick in cases of foodborne illness. This year, however, the nation did not have to wait for the high temperatures to see a widespread outbreak.
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July 29, 2010
"No more delays: Pass food-safety bill"
Eric Schlosser, documentary filmmaker and author of Fast Food Nation, recently sounded a dramatic alarm by noting that the annual national death toll from foodborne disease -- about 5,000 -- is about the same as the total number of Americans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.
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July 24, 2010
"Unsafe at Any Meal"
Eric Schlosser, documentary filmmaker and author of Fast Food Nation, argues the number of people who are killed annually by something they ate is roughly the same as the number of Americans who've been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.
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June 15, 2010
"Our food system is failing us"
Amanda Hitt, food integrity campaign director of the Government Accountability Project, argues Americans must broaden their evaluation of food safety beyond the finished product.
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May 20, 2010
"Saving lives with safe food"
Erik Olson, director of Food and Consumer Product Safety for the Pew Health Group, calls for a final vote in Congress to pass food safety legislation.
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April 14, 2010
"Ensuring safe food"
The Battle Creek Enquirer argues that consumers deserve better protection.
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April 12, 2010
"Stop use of antibiotics in food animals"
Elise Murphy of Chicago speaks up in support of The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming and asks our representatives to co-sponsor the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act.
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March 29, 2010
"Federal food safety follies"
Charleston Post & Courier editorial argues legislation that could strengthen FDA's authority to prevent contamination via plant inspections fails to address the division of responsibilities between FDA and the Agriculture Department, which oversees meat inspection.
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March 09, 2010
"Food safety's final mile"
Managing Director of Pew Health Group Shelley Hearne and Robert Brackett, top official from the Grocery Manufacturers of America, call for swift passage of congressional food-safety legislation.
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March 08, 2010
"High cost of food-related illness"
The Chattanooga Times Free Press discusses the cost of foodborne illnesses in light of the new study puts, which estimates cost of the illnesses at about $152 billion a year in healthcare, worksite and other economic losses.
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February 20, 2010
"If pepper's the culprit, who's to blame?"
The Oregonian Editorial Board examines the impact of the convoluted route of contaminated black pepper from Vietnam that found its way onto salami manufactured in Rhode Island and was shipped throughout the country.
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February 10, 2010
"You are what you eat"
The Daily Camera explains why congress should strengthen food safety.
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February 05, 2010
"Food safety concerns remain"
The Telegraph Herald discusses the Consumers Reports test of packaged salad greens, the Parkers Farm recall of contaminated peanut butter products and FDA's salmonella outbreak investigation.
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January 30, 2010
"Public confidence in food supply is critical"
'New challenges, like finding salmonella in peanut butter and pot pies and E. coli O157 in cookie dough and lettuce have been surprises that have taxed food safety agencies.'
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January 14, 2010
"Food safety still a concern"
The Tennessean remembers last year's salmonella outbreak, traced to peanuts, that killed at least nine people and left more than 700 sick, including at least 14 in Tennessee.
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December 21, 2009
"The 76 Million Food Victims"
The New York Times critiques Congress' mandate, which requires food producers to register with the federal government in order to trace contaminants in the food supply.
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December 14, 2009
"Overhaul of U.S. food safety system is overdue"
The Los Angeles Times states the facts: FDA oversight hasn't had a major revision for more than 50 years; farms are inspected about once a decade; about 1% of imported food is examined.
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September 22, 2009
"Food safety net is torn, inefficient"
The Virginian-Pilot celebrates FDA's recently set-up electronic database, but continue to call for an overhaul of the outdated inspection process.
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September 15, 2009
"Food Registry"
The Washington Post applauds FDA for instituting an online portal to flag contamination in the food supply before it has a chance to spread.
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August 10, 2009
"Making the food supply safer"
The Oregonian lauds HR 2749 as finally giving the FDA, rather than manufacturers, the power to initiate recalls.
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August 09, 2009
"Food Safety"
The Washington Post urges the Senate to quickly pass the Food Safety Enhancement Act.
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August 06, 2009
"Striving for safer food"
The Las Vegas Sun praises the Food Safety Enhancement Act as the first step towards a safer food production system.
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August 05, 2009
"Finally, action to protect our food"
St. Petersburg Times praises HR2749 as a step in the right direction and is encouraged by House Republicans who chose to stand with ordinary Americans instead of agribusinesses.
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July 30, 2009
"Vote for Safer Food"
The New York Times stands behind the FDA, supporting claims that the agency has neither the tools nor the authority to do its job.
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April 14, 2009
"Food Safety, One Pistachio at a Time"
The New York Times recognizes success in FDA's advisories to consumers to store or throw out pistachios while investigators figured out which products or nuts were tainted.
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April 11, 2009
"On food safety, err on side of caution"
The Virginian-Pilot cautions consumers to avoid all brands of a contaminated product rather than risk eating something that will make them sick or worse.
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February 16, 2009
"Dangerous Food"
The New York Times says Congress and the Obama administration must make food safety a serious priority.
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February 07, 2009
"Questioning food safety"
The Plain Dealer shares anger towards inspectors from both the Georgia Department of Agriculture and FDA over the 2006 salmonella outbreak.
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February 03, 2009
"FDA's plate full on food safety"
"The Denver Post explains how the latest salmonella outbreak is more proof that FDA doesn't have sufficient resources or staff.
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January 14, 2009
"U.S. must beef up inspection, recall system"
Guest blogger Dr. Bill Paul, director of health for the Metro Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County, discusses the need for modernization of the U.S. food-safety system.
