Food Safety | Grist

Drinking problems

I drink raw milk (sold illegally on the underground market) 49
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago Isn't it curious that at this juncture in our culture's evolution, we collectively believe Twinkies, Lucky Charms, and Coca-Cola are safe foods, but compost-grown tomatoes and raw milk are not? With legislation moving through Congress demanding that all agricultural practices be "science-based," Joel Salatin believes our food system is at Wounded Knee.
headless horsemen of the bureaucracy

Is anyone in charge of food safety? 1
Posted 1 month ago The fact that there remains no one in charge of food safety at the USDA has become a sick sort of joke among food policy types.
Meat wagon

Cargill, the National School Lunch Program, and antibiotic-resistant salmonella 3
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Remember when Cargill recalled nearly a million pounds of hamburger meat tainted with antibiotic-resistant salmonella? Turns out the beef-packing plant in question regularly supplies school cafeterias. And just last year, USDA inspectors watched slaughterhouse workers perform egregious hygiene violations--and the agency declined to fine the company.
Meat wagon: Antibiotic-resistant salmonella edition

Cargill plant recalls nearly a million pounds of tainted beef 4
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Ho-hum. Another recall of ground beef laced with antibiotic-resistant salmonella. This one's so big, you could make a burger for everyone in Los Angeles with the tainted stuff. Not that you should.
Salad spinner

With House food-safety bill a done deal, questions remain [UPDATED] 19
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
The House will likely pass a wide-ranging food-safety bill Thursday. Tom Philpott doesn't question the need for reform--but wonders what it means for small and mid-sized farms.
Meat wagon

Antibiotic-resistant salmonella burgers, with a side of flame retardants 6
Posted 4 months ago
More grossness from the meat industry: an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella from burgers in Colorado; plus news that meat eaters accumulate "significantly" more toxic flame retardants in their bodies.
Meat wagon

As MRSA gets worse, the FDA discovers antibiotic abuse on factory farms [UPDATED] 7
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
The FDA has finally noticed that antibiotic abuse on factory farms is creating a health menace.
Meat wagon

E. coli and Campylobacteriosis: Why Obama’s USDA food-safety pick is so important 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Obama still hasn't appointed the USDA official charged with ensuring the safety of the meat supply. The latest news around E. coli and Campylobacteriosis show why that pick is so important.
Wolff guarding the henhouse?

Rumor: Obama pondering big-ag man for key USDA meat-safety role [UPDATED] 3
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
According to a rumor from a credible source, Obama is seriously considering a Big Ag man to oversee the nation's meat industry. Here we go again? Let's hope not, writes Tom Philpott.
Swing low, revolving door

Monsanto’s man Taylor returns to FDA in food-czar role 14
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
The Obama Admininstration has named former Monsanto chief lobbyist Michael Taylor to a powerful role within the FDA. Some in the sustainable-food world applauded the move. Not Tom Philpott.
Calling for Real Reform

Food safety in the 21st century 1
Posted 5 months ago
Just when America thought it was safe to go back into the grocery store, another food outbreak wakes us up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong with its food safety system. This time it's Nestle Toll House cookie dough with E.coli, a treat that nearly every kid in America reaches for a few times a month during the summer. This is yet another reminder why it’s important to get the new food safety legislation, currently winding its way through Congress, right.
Farm Crisis 2009

Stand up for rural America while you still can 4
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
For the past six months, dairy farmers across the country have suffered a historic drop in milk prices while operating costs remain high. This is impacting mainly conventional and small to mid-size family dairy farmers -- the worst crisis most dairy farmers have faced in their entire careers. Without immediate action from Congress and the Obama administration, this current crisis could be the launching point for the final liquidation of the independent family farmer.
Food safety: How local can you go? 2
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Consumers, farmers, and manufacturers alike all appear to be for a food safety bill, so the question is not whether a bill will be approved, but whether it will make our food safer.
Food safety beefs

Big Meat says, “Keep the FDA away from our CAFOs!” 1
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Roll Call is reporting that Big Meat is less than pleased with the food safety bill currently moving through Congress.
Tired of rearranging your closets? Why not play with some genes?

OMG, it’s DIY GMOs 0
Posted 6 months, 4 weeks ago
I learned of a newly popular hobby for the masses thanks to a recent edition of Food Chain Radio podcast: amateur gene tinkerers. It's such an obvious plot for a Michael Crichton book, featuring an innocent experiment wiping the planet's motherboard. Why let corporations and academics in their ivory towers have all the fun?