Many readers of this journal will likely recall 2008 and 2009’s national Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut product manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Since news of the outbreak first hit the media, the case has been a regular fixture in the press. The outbreak is notable both for its enormous scope—over 700 sickened in 46
Meat Trade News Daily misses only a couple
The Meat Trade News Daily misses only a couple major food safety issues (i.e. outbreaks) in yesterdays summary of ten major food stories in 2009. In the blog post, titled "USA – Food Safety a Bloody Disgrace," MTND includes:
1. Stephanie Smith’s E. coli O157:H7 and HUS illness from eating a contaminated Cargill ground beef patty. Stephanie has sued Cargill for
Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Highlights Need For Increased Foodborne Illness Surveilance
Echoing the praise in my blog post yesterday, a Minnesota Star Tribune editorial is praising Minnesota health officials and calling for more foodborne illness surveilance. The editorial relates the story of one of the nine tragic and pointless deaths confirmed as resulting from the PCA Salmonella outbreak.
As with many of the deaths and illnesses in
Senator Klobuchar’s Push for New Food Safety Legislation Highlights the Work of Minnesota Health Officials
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar held a press conference today to announce new proposed leglisation to "promote a more rapid and effective national response to outbreaks of foodborne sickness."
According to Klobuchar, the new act would, among other things:
- Enhance the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) foodborne disease surveillance system.
- Direct CDC to provide more support to state health
FDA Takes Step One: Admits It Has A Problem
In a bit of news that is less surprising than it should be, the AP today reports that the FDA has for the last several years failed to perform a large percentage of required audits for inspections being conducted (under contract) by the States. According to today’s report (based on documents recently released to Congress: