Legal News

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have launched a website -- www.foodsafety.gov -- designed to help consumers stay up to date of food safety issues and recalls.

The website's main appeal is that it brings together information from scattered government agencies responsible for overseeing our food supply and reacting to food safety issues. Consumers will be able to go to one place for information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), along with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which as part of the USDA oversees the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products.

Foodsafety.gov features news regarding new and ongoing food safety issues, such as recalls, along with tips on keeping food safe and avoiding food poisoning. It also features educational materials on many common food related illnesses along with the bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and contaminants that cause them.

The site has podcasts, video offerings, and even e-cards which you can send to people to alert them to food safety issues. Visitors can also sign up for email alerts, RSS feeds of food safety information, or download a food safety alerts and tips widget which can be featured on other websites, such as social networking websites, to keep users informed even when they are not on the foodsafety.gov website.

One handy feature the site offers is a clearinghouse through which users can report a wide variety of problems. Users can also use the site to ask questions from food safety experts. Links to state agencies involved in food safety are offered, as well.

• FDA Requires Faster Food-Safety Alerts (Wall Street Journal)
• Make Our Food Safe (makeourfoodsafe.org)
• Food safety newsbites from two sides of the regulatory fence (LA Times)
• Wisc. woman sues spinach companies over E. coli (AP)