As of yesterday, three German women have died today from E. coli O104. German health officials have found another 400 confirmed cases – mostly young women. The first cases emerged barely two weeks ago and authorities have been shocked at the rate at which this outbreak has spread. Over a hundred patients are being
Anyone want a few thousand Safe Cooking Temperature magnets?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating its recommendation for safely cooking pork, steaks, roasts, and chops. USDA recommends cooking all whole cuts of meat to 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat, then allowing the meat to rest for three minutes before carving or
Last month I gave four food safety speeches
I was so beat from travel that I even flipped one talk (in South Africa) to one of my partners. In the interim, I have been working on a new background for some dozen speeches coming up over the next several months. Here is the title page:
I like the bit more ominous look –
Good Food Hero: Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney
GoodFood World Staff, May 23rd, 2011
Good food is not just better for the environment, the people who grow it, and the people who eat it; it is also safe food. Good food should not make you sick.
For our first Good Food Hero, we’ve chosen Bill Marler, a nationally recognized food safety attorney. Marler has spent his career lobbying for regulations to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses; educating food processors, handlers, and consumers about food safety; and representing families and individuals affected by contaminated food products.
We recently spent some time with Bill discussing food and food safety. Following is a condensed version of that conversation.
GoodFood World: You know, when I was growing up, we never heard of anyone getting food poisoning. Occasionally someone would get an upset stomach after a church picnic, that sort of thing. Is it happening more now or is it just being reported more? It seems like we’re hearing about food recalls and food safety scares all the time.
Bill Marler: It’s sort of “all of the above.” Lawyers love a simple solution but there are things about those questions that become complex.
One, there is absolutely no question that there are bugs out there today that are bigger, faster, and nastier than when you and I were kids.
There’s also the fact that our food has become much more mobile around the world. Bugs that would have been in South America are now in North America, and vice versa. We are now seeing certain shiga toxin-producing e-coli in the US that is predominantly Australian and European.
These bugs are the most adaptable creatures in the universe; they weren’t even around in the environments we knew in the 50s, 60s and even into the early 70s.
It’s also true that we’re better at figuring them out. Science has improved so much in the last 50 years. It was just over 100 years ago that we really understood that bacteria could cause human illness. We also have a robust public health system that tracks and shares information nationwide and worldwide. We are getting a lot more data now.
All of that makes the public much more aware of these things. When a mistake gets made, it is amplified incredibly quickly.Continue Reading Good Food Hero: Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney
I made the Glenn Beck Show, well sort of
I must admit I cannot stand Glenn Beck. I think he is a self-promoting, unbalanced idiot, who with his rants does great damage to what little common ground we have between the left, right and center of our country. For that reason I was a bit shocked to see the below on his website &ndash
NPR – Food Politics: ‘Poisoned’
President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act last January. It gives the FDA stronger authority to issue mandatory food recalls and to oversee facilities that grow, clean and sell our nation’s food. It’s also largely unfunded. Local attorney Bill Marler was instrumental in getting the Food Safety Modernization Act passed. He represented victims of
Interesting, what if government officials were held responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks?
I was reading this morning about Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. According to press reports, he said that regional state administration heads will be held personally responsible if there are legal violations during the summer holidays in children’s camps. Azarov said at an extended meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Friday that there must
It is time for real Food Safety reform in China
Exploding watermelons caused by the application of forchlorfenuron, a growth accelerator, hit the Chinese and international press today. Chinese media, apparently encouraged by the government (for now anyway), has been exposing the lax farming practices, shortcuts and excessive use of fertilizer behind a rash of food safety scandals. The exploding melons, follows discoveries of the
Meatingplace – FSIS suspends E. coli testing
I always start my morning on Meatingplace, in part to see what nasty thing the tools of the meat industry have to say about me, but also for breaking news they get with their close relationship to FSIS. I was drawn to the story this morning by Michael Fielding:
Citing a complete lack
Sally Fallon Morell and the Weston A. Price Foundation, you better get a very good lawyer – and lots of insurance
The National Journal reported on the “Moo-in” in Washington D. C. where Morgan the cow held court. It looked like all had fun poking fun at the FDA and touting the taste and alleged benefits of raw milk. However, this quote (which I hope someone has on tape) was really quite shocking:
Sally Fallon Morell