I posted a request for ideas to present while I am in Washington D.C. to the Foodsafe listserve. Foodsafe is an industry-supported discussion group to connect those interested in food safety to each other, and to information. The sender is responsible for content. For archives or to unsubscribe from the list, go to http://www.foodsafetyweb.info/foodsafe. For
Monterey County Fairgrounds – E. coli Meeting
Brandon Bailey (a.k.a. “E. coli Reporter”) of the San Jose Mercury News wrote again this morning on the produce industries desire to have a “seal of approval” for leafy vegetables. See full article – “Plan for safer vegetables is already drawing critics”
However, what are the rules for getting the seal? As Mr. Bailey points
Salinas Valley – East of Eden
“From both sides of the valley little streams slipped out of the hill canyons and fell into the bed of the Salinas River. In the winter of wet years the streams ran full-freshet, and they swelled the river until sometimes it raged and boiled, bank full, and then it was a destroyer. The river tore
Will a seal be enough?
E.J. Schultz of the Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau wrote late last year about “Plans could give spinach seal of approval – After E. coli outbreaks, various proposals seek safer produce handling.”
Consumers buying California-grown lettuce and spinach could soon be seeing a safety seal of approval, under an industry-backed proposal formulated in the wake of
Mr. Bill goes to Washington
I’m off to Washington D.C. next week to gauge the interest of the new Congress in taking a hard look at Food Safety, specifically, fresh fruits and vegtables, in light of all the recent E. coli outbreaks. Below is a letter that I had sent to key lawmakers:
During the last four months of 2006
Thank You Washington Post
My seven year old daughter, Sydney, has been asking for a rodent, any rodent, to go along with her cat, dog and several fish for months. My wife was glad to see the following headline:
Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Pet Rodents
Hamsters and other rodents kept as pets were linked to about half of human
It is always good to have a sense of humor
For those who find humor in the pages of the New Yorker, I thought this was good:
It says: “I’m not a lawyer, I’m just drafting.”
cattlenetwork.com reported in a recent posting that “Rates Of Foodborne Illness Are Decreasing”
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that rates of foodborne illness and the incidence of
MORE E. COLI PREVENTION URGED
It is good to see Dania Akkad (a.k.a “lettuce lady”) back on the E. coli beat. She covered the recent grand jury pronouncements (see full article here)
More county money and effort should be spent to detect and prevent potentially fatal strains of E. coli from contaminating local produce, the 2006 Monterey County grand jury
Trans-fats, lawsuits and E. coli dominate 2006 headlines
Fred Minnick of QSR wrote today in his 2006 “In Review” about banning trans-fats and E. coli litigation – both of which I enjoy, but trans-fats not in as many locations.
This was one year that operators didn’t necessarily have control over their own fate. Politicians debated banning trans-fats, spinach was contaminated with E. coli,
E. coli Food Fight
“In light of food poisoning outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the government and the produce industry are scrambling to make leafy greens safer before the spring planting season.”
In fact, during the last four months of 2006, U.S.