http://www.ourfuture.org/category/keywords/food-safety The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://www.ourfuture.org/news-headline/2008114826/ailing-fda-may-need-major-restructuring <p>The Obama administration will inherit a Food and Drug Administration widely seen as struggling to protect Americans from unsafe medication, contaminated food and a flood of questionable imports from China and other countries. The agency's public image and staff morale has been damaged by a perceived tilt toward industry and away from consumer protection under the Bush administration. Many say it is overdue for a doubling of its budget in order to keep up with the increased number of goods it must oversee.</p> An Economy for All The Big Con 501c(3) e coli conservatism food safety Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:28:00 -0500 Isaiah J. Poole 31657 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/makingsense/factsheet/food-safety Making Sense 501c(4) food safety Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:04:16 -0400 Armand Biroonak 27708 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/makingsense/alert/2008083314/tainted-food-threatens-all-americans Making Sense 501c(4) e coli conservatism food safety Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:16:31 -0400 Bernie Horn 27676 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/fast-fact/2008083314/lax-food-safety-has-big-impacts <p>80% of Americans now want stronger food safety standards, and for good reason. Food-borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year.</p> 501c(3) food safety Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Armand Biroonak 29043 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/fast-fact/2008083314/almost-all-imported-food-goes-uninspected <p>Approximately 13 percent of the food eaten by an average American is imported, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspects less than one percent of food imports</p> 501c(3) food safety Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Armand Biroonak 29044 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/fast-fact/2008083314/fdas-responsibility-grows-inspectors-reduced <p>During the Bush Administration, the number of domestic food producers under the FDA’s jurisdiction has grown by nearly 30 percent-- from 51,000 to more than 65,500-- but the FDA has actually reduced the number of inspections it performs. </p> 501c(3) food safety Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Armand Biroonak 29045 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/fast-fact/2008083314/fdas-responsibility-grows-inspectors-reduced-0 <p>During the Bush Administration, the number of domestic food producers under the FDA’s jurisdiction has grown by nearly 30 percent-- from 51,000 to more than 65,500-- but the FDA has actually reduced the number of inspections it performs. </p> 501c(3) food safety Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Armand Biroonak 29046 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/fast-fact/2008083314/usda-fails-inspect-beefagain <p>The USDA fails to inspect our food properly; in the past 18 months, 40 million pounds of meat have been recalled because of E. coli contamination. That’s 200 times more than was recalled for E. coli in 2006. </p> 501c(3) food safety USDA Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Armand Biroonak 29048 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/poisoned-politics-yields-poisoned-peppers <p>I was sitting in an Austin, Texas, restaurant, eating a concoction made with corn chips, chili and cheese, when the federal government <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071701684.html?nav=rss_business">announced</a> that tomatoes that had been suspected as the source of an e.coli outbreak were now safe to eat. The jalapenos that topped the plate of food I was eating, however—well, we're not so sure.</p> <p>Score another one for e.coli conservatism, where a bit of heartburn from too many peppers could be the least of your problems.</p> <p>We've written much about how the agencies responsible for keeping our food supply safe have been weakened under the Bush administration. But in a session at Netroots Nation, a panel shed some light on how what is left has been co-opted by corporate food interests.</p> <p>The consequence is that healthy food practices have been put under undue regulatory pressure—by an administration that protests about the burdens government imposes on small business—while large agribusinesses are allowed to engage in practices that have increased our safety risks, says Judith McGreary, the director of the <a href="http://www.farmandranchfreedom.org/">Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance</a> in Austin.</p> <p>McGreary, who runs her own livestock farm in Austin, is an advocate for small, sustainable farms. "One of our central problems is the centralization of our food supply," she said. When meats, vegetables and fruits travel thousands of miles to large processing plants, where workers are pressured to meet inflexible production quotas, the result is a setup for widespread food contamination problems.</p> <p>That's just made worse by a political atmosphere in which "Big Ag permeates Washington, D.C.," she said.</p> <p>How do we fix this? Panelists at the food session agreed that more has to be done to promote smaller, more localized farming operations. Food safety regulations should be tailored with the capacities of smaller farms in mind, but they should be tough. The benefit is that when there are safety lapses, their scope can be contained and the source more easily identified.</p> <p>There are a host of other reasons why <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/eating-local">a buy-local movement</a> is building among food advocates, but the safety of our food supply is among the most compelling. The conservatives' practice of allowing corporate agribusiness the untrammeled ability to reshape our food supply chain and the safety rules that govern it has literally made us sick. </p> <p><em>Updated to correct the description of McGreary's farm.</em></p> The Big Con 501c(3) food safety netroots Netroots Nation Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:38:39 -0400 Isaiah J. Poole 26844 at http://www.ourfuture.org http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/safe-toys-edible-food-smart-globalization <p>Why is it that people who question globalization are treated like Neanderthals?</p> <p>You’re a protectionist, critics charge. Globalization is here to stay; you can’t turn back the clock, you Neanderthal! Besides, look at all the great stuff we get for cheap!</p> <p>Well, we can get a lot of great stuff. A lot of it is cheap. But sometimes the low price just hides costs elsewhere. Smart globalizers want to manage the process and make sure the price reflects the reality.</p> <p>The Campaign for America's Future recently published two reports that reveal the seamy underside of globalization. <a href="http://www.ourfuture.org/toxic-trade">Toxic Toys </a> is about Halloween candy buckets and Barbie doll accessories imported from China and coated with lead-based paint. It’s about drinking cups with 39,000 parts per million of lead when the legal standard is 600 parts per million. Why the worry? The budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is half what it was in 1974 in real dollars. It’s staffed by former lobbyists and industry cronies who deny there’s a problem and obstruct efforts at reform.</p> <p>Even people who don’t use toys tend to eat. Our second report, <a href="http://www.ourfuture.org/report/eating-dangerously">Eating Dangerously</a>, examines the food industry and finds the same disregard for health. Since 1973, agricultural imports have increased by 78 percent while inspections decreased exactly the same 78 percent. Yet the FDA’s own research indicates that pesticide violations and infections from shigella and salmonella occur roughly three times as often in imported food.</p> <p>The stories are painfully familiar. A million pounds of Chinese seafood sold in the U.S with carcinogens and antibiotics not approved for use in the U.S. Half a million pounds of cantaloupes consumed from Mexico and Costa Rica with salmonella contagion. Even cats and dogs aren’t safe. Melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used to make fertilizer and plastic, made its way into 60 million cans and pouches of pet food.</p> <p>Tomatoes are today’s trouble. Are they from Mexico or Florida? Eventually we’ll find out. The problem remains the same. </p> <p>If we were serious about global trade, we would charge something for the price of admission to U.S. markets. We can still open our doors to global trade. But trading partners need to take the melamine out of the pet food, the lead out of the children’s toys, and the pesticides out of the cantaloupe. Those are the standards we hold U.S. manufacturers to; if you want access to our market, you need to play by our rules.</p> <p>That’s not Neanderthal. That’s smart.</p> <p>Smart globalizers want to draft standards into trade agreements. They want to inspect enough cargo to provide a credible risk of detection or hold U.S. companies liable for distribution and sale. </p> <p>The U.S. isn’t doing enough of that. Free market conservatives are in charge. Spellbound by the ideology of the marketplace, they ignore the obvious fact that markets need grown-up supervision. Historically, that’s the role of government. To create collective institutions that protect shared interests in ways that individuals can’t. Lead testing. Pesticide testing. Evaluating the carcinogenic properties of fertilizer.</p> <p>We can build a government to serve our interests, or we can leave it to the logic of the market and race to the bottom. </p> <p>Progressives want to evolve. Who’s the Neanderthal?</p> An Economy for All Progressive Vision 501c(3) Fair Trade food safety globalization Toxic Trade Trade Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:08:44 -0400 Eric Lotke 25976 at http://www.ourfuture.org