Food safety headlines 8/4

Two Very Different Paths From Farm to Table From The Washington Post: Reports of unsafe food from China have spurred a reexamination of the system, which some say has not caught up with recent increases in food imports, which have doubled in value in the past decade. "Our overall food-safety system needs comprehensive reform. People are losing confidence," said Rep. Rosa DaLauro (D-Conn.), a frequent critic of the FDA's oversight of seafood and produce.
But FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, in a letter to employees last month after the agency was criticized during a congressional hearing, said, "Although food safety problems still occur in this country, it does not automatically follow that the FDA is asleep at the switch."
Changing the system would require upending huge bureaucracies and long-standing traditions, as well as tackling industry concerns. Congress is considering a piece of legislation that would establish a single food-safety agency and another that would, for the first time, allow the FDA to charge importers a fee.


Kohl seeks improved food safety protection From The Green Bay Press:
Two weeks after Castleberry Food Co. issued a recall of 90 products possibly contaminated with botulism, federal investigators found the goods still on the shelves of 300 stores.
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has proposed a solution — rapid-response teams. He envisions four to six such regional teams to work with growers, food processors and local and state officials so that recalls go smoothly. The teams would also help find the causes of food contamination outbreaks.Kohl, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, wants to pump an additional $48 million into the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of 80 percent of what Americans eat. The U.S. Agriculture Department is responsible for 20 percent of the food supply.Included are funds for 90 new FDA inspectors to begin replacing the 230 inspectors the agency has lost over the last four years.He and others in Congress are scrutinizing the sprawling network of federal agencies responsible for preventing food contamination and tracking it down once it occurs. The recall of Castleberry products and the discovery of the chemical melamine from China in pet food that sickened or killed cats and dogs are the latest reminders of the importance of food safety.The 2006 death of a Manitowoc woman and the sickening of dozens of other Wisconsinites from U.S.-grown spinach contaminated by E. coli bacteria played a role in Kohl’s efforts to strengthen the FDA.“We’ve seen shoppers terrified not only for their families but for their pets. I think the level of confidence (in U.S. food safety) has gone down,” Kohl said.


Kiwis fret over what we eat From a New Zealand Web site:

A phone survey of 750 people for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) found salmonella was the worst food fear, with 77 per cent being "very concerned" about it.
Antibiotics in meat (67 per cent) and campylobacter (63 per cent) were next.
But scientist Dr Donald Campbell said people were missing the three biggest threats to life – salt, fat and sugar.

TK: Talking points, perhaps? Industry leaders should continue to reinforce the health benefits of f/v in comparison to other food choices.