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Health Law

Food Safety News

Daily online newspaper dedicated to reporting on issues surrounding food safety.
By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

Post Frequency: 31.2/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 06:59:07

The Bug That Poisoned the President

Posted on February 21, 2011
On the morning of the Fourth of July in 1850, President Zachary Taylor strolled out of the White House and into the summer heat of Washington DC. He stopped to watch a Sunday school program, chomped on a couple of green apples, then attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the pending construction of the Washington Monument...

Letter From The Editor: Run J. Patrick, Run!

Posted on February 20, 2011
During the past week, Food Safety News brought readers the details on the proposal for food safety funding in President Obama's $3.7 trillion budget.Helena Bottemiller, our capitol correspondent, reported the President was putting FDA in for an additional $170 million for food safety, while trimming USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service back by $8 million...

Publisher's Platform: Can We All Get Along?

Posted on February 20, 2011
Can we all get along?When police-beaten Rodney King uttered those words nearly two decades ago, I am not so sure that many took much notice -- even with the 24-hour cable news chatter.Since then, as the Internet has allowed everyone to communicate with everyone, and our politics have become so very polarized, common courtesy has at times been kicked to the curb much like Mr...

USDA Uses Rule-Making to Delay Catfish Inspection

Posted on February 19, 2011
Only in Washington D.C. can a rule to enforce the law be used as a tactic to delay doing anything.But that's exactly what the U.S. Department of Agriculture did Friday when it announced a rule requiring inspection of catfish and catfish products.On the surface, that might sound like the federal government was finally getting serious about implementing the 2008 Farm Bill's language shifting catfish inspection to USDA's Food safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) from the U...

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UK's E. coli Safety Guidance Called 'Draconian'

Posted on February 18, 2011
After the UK's Food Standards Agency issued an official guidance this week, detailing the steps food handlers need to prevent cross-contamination by E. coli O157 and other bacteria, the head of a meat trade group called the standards "draconian."The guidance was developed in the aftermath of lethal outbreaks of E...

Pediatricians Warn of Energy Drink Risks

Posted on February 18, 2011
Highly caffeinated beverages were in the spotlight again this week with the publication of a paper in the journal Pediatrics Monday that reviewed studies in the scientific literature, as well as government and media reports, about the contents and effects of so-called energy drinks...

Drinking Raw Milk: It's Not Worth the Risk

Posted on February 18, 2011
There are many reasons why some people are thinking about drinking raw milk these days. (Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs.) Some people want to eat less processed food. Others have heard that raw milk contains more of certain nutrients than pasteurized milk, or that it can prevent or even solve various health problems...

Iowa Ag Secretary Says Feds Are Now All Over Eggs

Posted on February 18, 2011
Iowa's 100 million laying hens are now coming in for "aggressive" attention, state Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says.In remarks to update legislators on the aftermath of last year's 550 million recall of eggs from two Iowa laying operations for Salmonella contamination, Northey said the federal government has clearly stepped up its game...

Vilsack Optimistic in Ag Outlook Report

Posted on February 18, 2011
Citing high crop prices and record exports, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack held an optimistic tone Thursday in a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee. "On the whole, we are optimistic," Vilsack told the committee, explaining that record U...

Taylor Highlights Food Safety Law at Global Forum

Posted on February 18, 2011
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor delivered remarks before a truly international audience Thursday, highlighting the new food safety law's impact on imports.Taylor emphasized that improving food safety is both the right thing to do and good for business in his speech before the Global Food Safety Conference in London, an event produced by the Global Food Safety Initiative, an international organization seeking to harmonize global food safety standards...

Calorie Counts Didn't Affect Fast Food Choices

Posted on February 17, 2011
Nutrition facts posted in fast food restaurants have no bearing on what parents order for their kids, or what teens choose for themselves, a new study shows.Researchers surveyed 349 children ages 1-17 who dined at fast food restaurants in New York City, and found that nutrition facts posted in the restaurant did not lead to lower-calorie purchases...

Eight Months in Wales for Hygienic Violations

Posted on February 17, 2011
The former owner of the Llay Fish Bar is going to jail for eight months and is banned from ever being in the food business again.Wales has delivered justice for the 2009 Llay Fish Bar outbreak.Anyone looking for an air-tight scientific report to go with the jail sentence will likely be disappointed...

Was 'Black Bear' Meat Switched to Lesser Cuts?

Posted on February 17, 2011
On the surface, Homer Glen, IL would appear to be one of those communities where lots of people would claim to know their game meats. After all, Homer Glen has been called a perennial conservative stronghold. Illinois Tea Party events are held in its Homer Megaplex...

Multiple Safety Lapses Behind Many Outbreaks

Posted on February 17, 2011
I have now been involved in over 60 investigations of foodborne illness as an expert, on the sides of both plaintiffs and defendants. Some reflections:1. Most outbreaks that result in lawsuits have evidence of multiple major sanitation deficiencies2. Most have pest problems as part of the documentation3...

FDA Urged to Ban Cola Caramel Coloring

Posted on February 17, 2011
Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a petition Wednesday asking that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban two types of carcinogenic chemicals often labeled as "caramel coloring," most often on products like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other dark-colored colas...

Final Alfalfa Sprouts Outbreak Toll: 140

Posted on February 17, 2011
Half of those sickened in a multistate outbreak of Salmonella linked to alfalfa sprouts were from Illinois, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its final update on the investigation.The final outbreak toll was 140 people in 26 states and the District of Columbia infected with the outbreak strain -- Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-...

Canadian Study Finds Superbugs in Retail Poultry

Posted on February 17, 2011
A recent investigation by Canada's CBC TV news found two-thirds of samples collected at major grocery stores in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal had bacteria resistant to at least one antibiotic, raising new concerns about the pervasive use of antimicrobials in food animal feed...

Lone Star Rally Planned to Boost Raw Milk Sales

Posted on February 16, 2011
Bills to allow the retail sales of raw milk have been referred to committees in the Texas Legislature. No meetings or hearings have been scheduled on either HB 75, referred to the House Public Health Committee, nor SB 237, which was sent to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee...

Japan School Outbreak Sickens More Than 1,000

Posted on February 16, 2011
An outbreak of what health authorities believe is Salmonella has sickened at least 1,048 students, teachers, and staff members at nine schools in Iwamizawa, a city of about 90,000 on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.Students began to have severe diarrhea and other symptoms of foodborne illness last Friday after eating a Thursday lunch of miso soup with potatoes, green salad, and Japanese radish with minced chicken, rice and milk...

Cycling's Contador Cleared for Illicit Cattle Drug

Posted on February 16, 2011
Three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was cleared of doping charges Tuesday after the Spanish cycling federation decided he should not be banned for testing positive for clenbuterol.A minute trace of the muscle-building and fat-burning drug, used illicitly to produce leaner meat more quickly in livestock, was found in Contador's urine sample after the Tour de France last July...

North Korea May Need Emergency Food Supplies

Posted on February 16, 2011
United Nations food agencies are assessing whether to begin an emergency operation in North Korea to help millions of people at risk of hunger, according to an Agence France-Presse report.North Korea made the formal request, Radio Australia News reported...

A Bid to Limit Retail Liability for Tainted Food

Posted on February 16, 2011
A bill that gets dropped in the hopper at a state legislature often starts out as a mini mystery. Who's behind it? Where did it really come from? What is it really trying to accomplish?Colorado House Bill 11-1190--limiting damages against retailers for foodborne illnesses---is just such a bill...

Santa Monica Adopts Code for Trendy Food Trucks

Posted on February 16, 2011
It seems that tailored food safety regulations are closely following behind what has become a nationwide phenomenon: food trucks. Santa Monica is the latest municipality to adopt health standards specific to the trendy food establishments-on-wheels.The Santa Monica City Council Thursday adopted changes to the county's health and food safety code, requiring local public health officials to increase inspections of mobile food vendors from once annually to twice...

School Lunch Program Goes Safely Local

Posted on February 16, 2011
A school district in Washington state has ditched frozen French fries and chicken fingers this year in favor of fresh fare. Not only are meals now made from scratch daily, but produce grown by local farmers will soon be featured on the menu. This fall, the Vashon Island School District, serving two islands adjacent to Seattle, implemented a new, health-focused food program that has turned kitchen staff into chefs and students into diners...

FDA Has Food Safety Tips for Deli Slicers

Posted on February 15, 2011
As part of an initiative to improve food safety practices in retail and foodservice establishments, FDA has developed a poster and flyer designed to raise awareness of sanitation concerns with commercial deli slicers commonly used to cut meats, cheeses and produce in food stores, delis and restaurants...

United Fresh Offers Recall Training Online

Posted on February 15, 2011
The United Fresh Produce Association Foundation will offer its popular course, "Training for a Recall, Communicating Under Fire" as a six-part online webinar.The course, presented through the trade group's Center for Food Safety and Quality, consists of six hour-long weekly sessions beginning March 11...

PCA Salmonella Victims Want Criminal Charges

Posted on February 15, 2011
Last Friday I spoke at the Government Accountability Project Food Integrity Campaign conference. During the lunch break, food safety attorney and advocate Bill Marler hosted a press event with 10 family members of victims of the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanuts...

Oregon Bills Support Locally Grown Poultry

Posted on February 15, 2011
Supporters of small family farms and locally grown food in Oregon are backing three bills--the Farm Direct Bill, the Family Farm Act, and HB 2872--that address poultry processing. (The matter is also covered in the omnibus Family Farm Act, HB 2222, which seeks to expand limits on raw milk production, among other provisions...

R-CALF Says Checkoff Diverted to Influence Policy

Posted on February 15, 2011
An independent cattlemen's group is charging its larger competitor with using federal "Beef Checkoff" marketing dollars to illegally influence government actions and policies.The Billings, MT-based R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America made the charge earlier this month against the Denver-based National Cattleman's Beef Association in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Attorney General Eric Holder, and USDA Inspector General Phyllis K...

Obama's Budget Plan Would Boost FDA, Cut FSIS

Posted on February 15, 2011
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture's food safety programs are not treated equally in the $3.7 trillion budget plan released by President Obama Monday.The plan, which will set the framework for budget debate on Capitol Hill, asks for approximately $170 million in additional funding for FDA's food program, not including fees, and for an $8 million cut to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), compared to current funding levels...

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