Food safety

November 9, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Today, Congressman Paul Hodes wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging her to address reports that Wall Street executives are receiving the H1N1 vaccine before New Hampshire residents. New Hampshire is scheduled to receive additional doses of the vaccine this week, but confusion remains regarding distribution levels and availability, all while Wall Street executives have already received the vaccines they need.    » read more »

Bill Would Prohibit Federal Funds for Implementing Proposed Ban

November 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON— U.S. Congressman Charlie Melancon (LA-03) has introduced legislation to prevent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from using federal funds to implement a proposed ban on the sale of fresh, live oysters from Gulf Coast states during warm-weather months unless they are processed. The ban, which would begin in 2011, would severely impact Louisiana’s oyster and restaurant industries, major sectors of the state’s economy.    » read more »

November 5, 2009 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced contract awards for up to 120,000 treatment courses of intravenous (IV) antiviral drugs to help treat hospitalized 2009 H1N1 influenza patients.

Patients hospitalized with 2009 H1N1 influenza are evaluated to determine if antiviral drugs will be useful; some patients are not able to take the drugs that are currently available as pills or liquid and may benefit from intravenous antiviral medications.    » read more »

Executive Order gives public health director clear authority to respond as needed

Nov. 5, 2009 -- (Salem) - Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski today issued Executive Order 09-17 to grant the state’s public health director, Dr. Mel Kohn, additional authority to respond proactively to pandemic H1N1 influenza. By issuing the order now, Governor Kulongoski has provided Dr. Kohn with the ability to implement quickly public health protections provided by state law.

“In order to do all we can to protect the public, I have provided Dr. Kohn with the ability to take additional steps to protect the health of Oregonians,” said Governor Kulongoski. “These measures are not needed now, but should that change, Dr. Kohn can take action without delay.”    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/30/2009 - A survey of state health departments regarding their capacity to track produce-related foodborne illnesses found that the response and investigation of outbreaks varies greatly and can lead to delays in public-health response.

The survey was commissioned by the Produce Safety Project (PSP), an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, and conducted by Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.). Thirty-nine of the 51 state and District of Columbia health departments responded to the survey, which asked about the types of questions and questionnaires administered to victims of foodborne illness, the time frame in which they were completed, and how states collected and stored the resulting data for calendar year 2007.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/19/2009 - Sixteen Americans who have been directly affected by foodborne illness gathered at the White House recently to share their personal stories and meet Sam Kass, assistant White House chef, who cooks for the Obama family and is an advisor on food policy; Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who is the lead staffer for the White House Food Safety Working Group; and David Lazarus, senior advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture, who coordinates with the White House on food safety issues.

Representing the millions of Americans who fall ill each year from contaminated food, the victims and relatives of victims appealed to the Obama administration to urge congressional lawmakers to pass food safety legislation this year.    » read more »

Gillibrand Says Over 900 Food Products Have Been Recalled for Various Violations from New York City Shelves Since 2005

October 18, 2009 -- New York, NY - In response to a new report out this month from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing nearly 1 out of every 300 samples of ground beef contains E. coli, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, joined today with consumers who have contracted E. coli from contaminated food, plus medical and food safety experts to announce the E. coli Eradication Act.    » read more »

October 16, 2009 -- Washington, DC - In response to a statement from the American Meat Institute that said that the E. coli Eradication Act authored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would only "duplicate" testing currently being done by the industry, Senator Gillibrand said that in the absence of corporate responsibility, Congress must act.

"The meat industry makes some valuable points about the need to handle and cook ground beef carefully, but they are choosing to ignore their own best practices. Leading processors in the industry, like Costco, have already determined that they cannot rely on suppliers alone to test the meat. Costco says that testing the meat they receive from slaughterhouses is ‘incumbent upon' them, and I agree.    » read more »

Contaminated Food Kills 5,700 Americans Each Year – Nation’s Food Safety Laws Have Not Been Overhauled In A Century

October 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, today announced a comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation's food safety laws by improving inspection, recall response, and public education. A cornerstone of Senator Gillibrand's plan is new legislation to mandate E. coli inspections of ground beef.    » read more »

Bill Will Extend County of Origin Labeling to Dairy Products

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C.–U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chair of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food, Nutrition, and Family Farms, joined U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to introduce the Dairy Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Act, which would extend mandatory country of origin labeling to dairy products.

“Ohioans and all Americans have a right to know where their food was produced,” Brown said. “This bill supports both families and farmers by requiring country of origin labeling on all dairy products. With increasing dairy imports, country of origin labeling provides critical information as households decide how to feed their families.”    » read more »

October 05, 2009 -- "The story we learned about over the weekend is unacceptable and tragic. We all know we can and should do more to protect the safety of the American people and the story in this weekend's paper will continue to spur our efforts to reduce the incidence of E. coli O157:H7. Over the last eight months since President Obama took office, USDA has been aggressive in its efforts to improve food safety, and has been an active partner in establishing and contributing to President Obama's Food Safety Working Group.    » read more »

Agencies Unite on Outreach to Produce Industry

WASHINGTON, October 5, 2009 -- USDA's fresh produce chief will join FDA to develop new food safety rules, as part of a cooperative initiative between FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Today's announcement comes amid beefed up outreach efforts with key agriculture and safe food stakeholders to better share and exchange produce safety "best practices" and ideas.    » read more »

9/30/09 -- WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate and House conference committee approved the FY2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill including $3.376 billion for food and drug safety. The bill provides funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Under the bill, funding for these two agencies would increase $353 million over last year's level. Kohl is the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.    » read more »

Bentonville, AR – August 7, 2009 --Sam’s Club has been informed of a USDA recall of Cargill Meat Solutions Ground Beef Products.

Below is the list of recalled items that would have been purchased between the time period of June 16, 2009 through and including July 8, 2009.

* 90% GROUND BEEF COV MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021209400000
* 90% GROUND BEEF COV MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021200200000
* 90%GROUND BEEF PATTY MAX 10% FAT with a UPC of 0021200300000
* GROUND BEEF MAXIMUM 10% FAT with a UPC of 0029200200000
* MAXIMUM 10% FAT REDUCED PRICE PATTY with a UPC of 0029200300000
* 90% GROUND BEEF MAX 10% FAT/CASE ONLY with a UPC of 0021204700000    » read more »

Less Than 20% Of Consumers Trust Food They Buy Is Safe and Healthy, IBM Survey Reveals; Spotlights Consumer Attitudes on Food Products in Light of Outbreaks and Recalls

Armonk, NY -- - 24 Jun 2009 -- A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study reveals that less than 20 percent of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy for themselves and their families. The study also shows that 60 percent of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase, and 63 percent are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy.    » read more »