gary-boyd.com » food safety

Food Safety Now!

Gary — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:46:22 +0000

At least 69 people have become violently ill — 34 of them hospitalized — after eating uncooked Nestlé’s Toll House cookie dough. At least nine of those victims suffered kidney failure, as a result of a virulent form of E. coli. Nestlé USA has recalled more than 300,000 cases of the product since, even after cooking, the E. coli could remain on hands or survive in softer, undercooked cookies.

Coming after problems with tainted tomatoes, peanuts and pistachios, this is another warning about the weakness of the nation’s food safety system and why Congress needs to fix it. The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently approved an excellent bill that would strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s powers. The full House and the Senate — with White House support — need to move this package forward.

via Editorial – Say No to Raw Cookie Dough – NYTimes.com.

Food Rules…An New Old Way To Eat

DEREGULATION IS KILLING US

Gary — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:38:02 +0000

Jim Hightower has this one right…

Thank you, deregulation deities. Food corporations regularly run safety tests, but – here’s the cute part – they are not required to reveal the results to federal or state regulators. So, they don’t. It’s a shameful game of regulatory hide & seek.

Meanwhile, the inspection budgets and enforcement powers of health officials have also been sacrificed to the gods of deregulation, so the public has no effective control over America’s 65,000 food production plants. PCA’s Georgia factory, for example, has never been inspected by the feds. And while state officials have cited the plant many times for unsanitary conditions, there’s been no punishment imposed. Indeed, even after officials confirmed that this plant is the source of the current salmonella contamination, the corporation was declared free to restart production.

via Jim Hightower | DEREGULATION IS KILLING US.

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