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HOT TOPIC: Focus on Food SafetyFood…trust – and provider accountability -- the three terms clearly go together. We consume food hundreds, even thousands of miles from its origination. Trust is everything! Anything we put in our bodies every day should be “trustworthy,” in terms of where it came from -- and everyone involved in the food supply chain should be accountable for their actions (or inaction in certain cases). From grower / farmer / planter / rancher to food processor to retailer or food service or restaurant…and then to each of us – there is a clear chain of accountability. Trust is the important foundation all along the human food chain – preserving trust should be an imperative for every player. And yet, accidents do happen. Each year in the United States tainted foods cause an estimated 75 million illnesses resulting in more than 300,000 hospitalizations and as many as 5,000 deaths or more. (World-wide food hazards kill more than 1.8 million people each year, mostly affecting children.) The impact on the U.S. economy in medical costs alone top $6.5 billion with maybe two or three times that number in financial losses to business, industry and government. More and more of the food items that we in the U.S.A. consume come to our shores from foreign and third world production and processing sources, where there can be a lack of adequate sanitation or proper food handling procedures and oversight. Even here in America, numerous food processing issues arise each year, typically involving incidents of food-borne illnesses originating from such biological hazards as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, and these and more continue to be significant public health threats. Those at greatest risk are children, senior citizens, pregnant women and their unborn children, and those with impacted immune systems. There is heightened interest in food safety issues on the part of consumers and their advocates; government officials at the federal, state and local levels; the healthcare community; media; and food, retailing and restaurant industries. The nation has made great progress in identifying harmful food production technologies, ramping up safety procedures, and adopting rules and regulations and to promote safer methods of handling and preparing foods. Food Safety is all about Accountability – and trust. The AC Hot Topic – Food Safety section is designed to present timely and useful news and information, a range of commentary, and reports on research on food safety topics. The objective: To improve and expand the public dialogue and contribute to the goal of safer food sources, processing and monitoring for all citizens. As always, we are interested in your comments on this important topic.
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Latest on Focus on Food SafetyMarch 17, 2010 Chain food safety executives and other experts share what they see as the restaurant industry's biggest challengesSource:Chainleader.comA March report by the Produce Safety Project, a team of food-safety experts and advocates advising Congress, notes that 76 million Americans become sick each year from contaminated food and 5,000 die. The cost: $152 billion. The... March 17, 2010 Restaurants have to make the gradeSource:Crain's New York BusinessCity's Board of Health approves a new system to force eateries to post in their windows health inspection grades, from A to C, alerting customers to their cleanliness. March 16, 2010 FDA targets spice supply to improve food safetySource:Eat Dring and Be.orgA nationwide outbreak of Salmonella, which sickened 250 people and spanned two months, was caused by contaminated red and black pepper in Italian meat products. Over the last several weeks, more than 150 food products have been... March 15, 2010 US One of Top Five Food Safety ViolatorsSource:SalemNews.com - WAA new global monitoring tool identifies the United States as one of the top five worst food safety offenders in the world. We take rank with China, Turkey, Iran, and Spain. This extensive integrated network was designed by... March 12, 2010 FDA Update on the Investigation into the Salmonella Montevideo OutbreakSource:FDAAs part of the Salmonella Montevideo investigation, the Food and Drug Administration has been actively investigating the supply chain of black and red pepper supplied to Daniele International Inc., Pascoag, R.I. [more] March 11, 2010 Food product recall jumps by 1.7M pounds
Source:USA Today
The recall of products containing a potentially salmonella-tainted flavoring ingredient ballooned this week with the addition of 1.7 million pounds of ready-to-eat beef taquito and chicken quesadilla products from a Houston firm. March 10, 2010 FDA says Basic Food Flavors knew plant was contaminated with salmonella
Source:Washington Post
The company at the heart of a growing recall of processed foods knew that its plant was contaminated with salmonella but continued to make a flavoring and sell it to foodmakers around the country, according to inspectors at the... March 9, 2010 HVP Recall List Tops 100 ProductsSource:Food Safetyv NewsThe nation's lesson on food ingredients has continued since late last Thursday. That was when top food safety officials appeared together at a Washington D.C. press conference to announce that a North Las Vegas food processor had... March 9, 2010 US school drink deal cuts sugar; NY mulls soda taxSource:ReutersA deal to sell healthier drinks in U.S. schools has slashed the amount of fattening beverages offered to students, former President Bill Clinton said on Monday as New York leaders pushed for a soda tax to tackle obesity and... March 8, 2010 Scientists develop worldwide food alert systemSource:Flesh and Stone Health and Science NewsCountries producing food containing harmful bacteria and toxins could be named and shamed more quickly using a worldwide alert system devised by a team of scientists from London’s Kingston University. |
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