The CDC reports today that 691 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 46 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2), Arizona (14), Arkansas (6), California (76), Colorado (18), Connecticut (11), Florida (1), Georgia (6), Hawaii (6), Idaho (17), Illinois (11)
84 Salmonella Cases in Nebraska Linked to CW Sprouts
The number of salmonella cases in eastern Nebraska initially detected last week has increased, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. So far, there are 84 lab-confirmed cases, with 13 considered probable. The outbreak preliminarily has been linked to a source – alfalfa sprouts from a local grower, CW Sprouts from Omaha.
This Post is for Dads – Like Barack Obama and Tom Vilsack
So, I know how (imagine how) the President spent his day – security briefings and then trying to fix the banking, health care, automobile, employment and environment messes. Other Dads? Doing their day jobs – blue collar, white collar, service or manufacturing – all putting in a day’s work. Me, I spent the day &ndash
Peanut Butter Salmonella Quote of the Day
“The label doesn’t likely say ‘Was made for us by a really crappy company in Blakely, Ga.,’” Marler explained. “The consumer thinks they’re buying the retailer’s brand.”
Had a great talk with Julie of Supermarket News about the liability of retailers for products manufactured for them under a “private label”, when they simply sell a
UPDATE – Hearing on “The Salmonella Outbreak: The Role of Industry in Protecting the Nation’s Food Supply”
House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
10:00 a.m. Thursday, March 19, 2009
2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Who is testifying has not yet been listed. ("[I]t will be a one-panel hearing with representatives from Kellogg, King Nut, and Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers testifying. The hearing will be focusing
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Announces Final Rule for Handling of Non-Ambulatory Cattle – The Final “Downer Ban”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (Saturday) announced a final rule to amend the federal meat inspection regulations to require a complete ban on the slaughter of cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled after passing initial inspection by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection program personnel.
The final rule amends the federal meat inspection regulations to
Guest Blogger – President Obama – OK, only kidding.
Because he is the President and he and his family eat, and the fact that he is actually talking about food safety is so important to all of us, here is his entire radio/video Saturday address:
"I’ve often said that I don’t believe government has the answer to every problem or that it can do
Guest Blogger – Jim Prevor: Who’s guarding our commerce? Recent failures on finance and food safety have something in common: Those assigned to enforce regulations didn’t. Here’s why.
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Jim Prevor is the founder and editor-in-chief of Phoenix Media Network Inc., a business-to-business media company specializing in the food industry. He regularly writes on food safety and other issues at PerishablePundit.com. This editorial appeared today in the Star Tribune.
On many issues of public concern, from food safety to the financial crisis, legislators and commentators line up on one side or the other: Either these failures prove that the free market doesn’t work and that more government regulation is required, or that our regulatory structure doesn’t work and that more free enterprise is required. Both positions ignore a common thread — the failure of "guardian structures" to do their jobs properly. The question is why.
It may not be obvious what unites the shipping of salmonella-laced peanut products, the issuance of mortgages without property value adequate to back them up and the sale of dubious securities. Yet oddly enough, all three problems are explained by the same private-sector failure: that of third-party monitors to aggressively safeguard the public interest.
The Peanut Corp. of America, for example, was audited for food safety by AIB International, formerly the American Institute of Baking. Its job was to provide an assurance to food manufacturers that they could buy with confidence. Yet inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration found mold on the ceilings and walls, large holes where vermin could enter, and cockroaches — both dead and alive.
How could AIB miss such obvious problems? Maybe in the same way appraisers used by mortgage companies missed the wildly excessive valuations they assigned to homes: Both had another agenda.
The appraisal of my own condominium for refinancing at the crest of the mortgage boom is illustrative. When the appraiser arrived, I made my pitch, pointing out enhancements that could boost his valuation. I was armed with printouts of every sale in the building for the previous year. It was all superfluous. The appraiser simply looked around and asked, "What value do you need?" I told him, and that is what I got.Continue Reading Guest Blogger – Jim Prevor: Who’s guarding our commerce? Recent failures on finance and food safety have something in common: Those assigned to enforce regulations didn’t. Here’s why.
President Obama on Food Safety – Full Radio Address Video
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In addition to the ideas the President stated, here are my “top ten” ideas:
1. improve surveillance of bacterial and viral diseases. First responders – ER physicians and local doctors – need to be encouraged to test for pathogens and report findings directly to local and state health departments and the CDC promptly.
2. These
Obama on Food Safety – This is why what you do is so important.
E. coli O157:H7, whether it is in contaminated hamburger, spinach or raw milk, is a very nasty bacteria. Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) can be the horrible result. Mr. President, the reason food safety is so important can best be explained by clicking on the below pictures and reading these childrens’ stories and looking at