Food Safety

WASHINGTON -- Stung by one of the largest recalls in pet food history, makers of dog and cat foods are developing a plan to prevent future contamination by hiring private laboratories to verify that foreign suppliers are shipping the right products and meeting quality standards. Companies will soon begin working out the technical details of hiring government-approved testers to certify the identity and safety of pet food ingredients shipped from overseas, said Duane Ekedahl, president of the Pet Food Institute, which represents manufacturers.

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of last year's E. coli outbreaks linked to bagged spinach and Taco Bell restaurants, a new congressional watchdog report is calling for major changes in the way the federal government protects the nation's food supply. The report, released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office, was highly critical of the current system for preventing dangerous bacteria from contaminating food and leading to deadly outbreaks. "Our food safety structure is collapsing and endangering public health," said Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, whose subcommittee will hold a hearing next week on food safety.

WASHINGTON -- Government inspectors don't have the option of checking most imported food under the current U.S. safety system and often have an average of only 30 seconds to decide whether a shipment merits examination, congressional investigators said yesterday. The investigators described the government's system for assuring the safety of imported fruit, vegetables and seafood as inadequate and said the agency's proposed reorganization might only make matters worse. Their testimony, before a House panel that oversees the Food and Drug Administration, follows a recent string of scares, recalls and alerts involving domestic and imported food, mainly from China, that has intensified fears about the government's ability to safeguard the nation's food supply.

CHICAGO -- There are lots of theories on how to succeed in business. But here's one that never occurred to me: Poison your customers. This strategy sounds counterintuitive, since the dead don't do much buying, but some people think it accounts for periodic outbreaks of food-borne illness. They say you can't trust the private sector to keep pathogens out of our food, making it incumbent on the federal government to protect us. The recent episode of lethal pet food is Exhibit A in this case.

WASHINGTON -- After months of revelations about deadly contamination of produce, peanut butter and pet food, and with consumer confidence in what they're eating falling to an 18-year low, Washington is suddenly turning its attention to the problem of food safety. Whether higher visibility will translate into major changes in the way the government protects the nation's food supply is less clear, however. "There is a greater intensity and depth of interest than I've seen in 30 years," said Carol Tucker Foreman, who worked on food issues in the administration of President Jimmy Carter and as an industry consultant, and is now director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute.

BEIJING -- Stepping up their efforts after a slew of scandals surrounding tainted food and drugs, Chinese officials showed off seized goods yesterday to Chinese and foreign journalists and said consumers need not be wary of products made in China. They also invited reporters to a food-safety laboratory and discussed their efforts to find and test products for harmful ingredients. "Yes, we have had some problems with the food safety of Chinese products. However, they are not that serious," said Li Dongsheng, vice minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Anne Arundel County Department of Health workers inspected 153 restaurants and other food service establishments between June 16 and June 30 and found 19 with critical food safety violations that were immediately corrected. They found multiple violations at three places:Roy Rogers of Glen Burnie No. 4, 7379 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd., was cited for not properly cooling food, workers not properly washing their hands or being free of illness, and not adequately cooking and reheating food.Buddy's Crabs & Ribs, 100 Main St., Annapolis, was cited for not holding food at the proper temperature and for adulterated or spoiled food.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health temporarily closed an Odenton food service establishment because of emergency circumstances discovered during inspections between March 1 and 15.Cho Son Oak, 1538 Annapolis Road in Odenton, was closed March 6 because of a sewage overflow and reopened later that day, health officials said.County health workers inspect restaurants and other food service establishments routinely to monitor the sanitary and physical conditions at each establishment.

Taking time to eat togetherPut your hectic schedule on hold for a few days. It's National Eat Dinner Together Week, through Saturday. So round up the hungry gang and serve America's Favorite Pork Chops (pictured above). Place 4 top loin chops, 3/4 cup Italian dressing and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce in a sealable bag; close and place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Remove chops from bag and grill over a medium-hot fire, turning once, about 8 to 15 minutes total cooking time, depending on thickness of chops.

Anne Arundel County Department of Health workers inspected 125 restaurants and other food service establishments between July 1 and July 15 and found 18 with critical food safety violations that were immediately corrected. Six facilities were closed during the period.Shannon's at 1468 Snug Harbor Road in Shadyside is still closed because of an unsatisfactory water supply and the Tri Me Supermarket at 5558 Muddy Creek Road in West River is still closed because of inability to hold cold food at the proper temperature while operating on a generator.

The city will launch a national search to replace Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the health commissioner tapped by President Barack Obama yesterday to serve as the No. 2 official at the nation's principal food and drug watchdog. "President Obama chose an experienced advocate with a proven background in health policy," Mayor Sheila Dixon said after Obama announced Sharfstein's appointment as deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. "The people of the United States are fortunate to have Dr. Sharfstein looking out for their best interests."

WASHINGTON - The salmonella outbreak that has killed as many as nine people and sickened hundreds nationwide has created what advocates say is an unprecedented opportunity to reform the way America safeguards its food supply. "You've had the consumer community, the expert community clamoring for this for over a decade," said Michael R. Taylor, a former deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. "What's happened with this outbreak is it has just elevated the intensity of the political focus and the demand or expectation that something be done."

The salmonella-contaminated peanut products that have killed eight people, sickened at least 575 more and triggered one of the largest food recalls in American history is the latest scandal to highlight a recurring problem - the inability of the Food and Drug Administration to properly safeguard 80 percent of the food Americans eat. Under the current law, the Peanut Corp. of America, the source of the bad products, will face no civil penalties for its exposure of millions of Americans to the tainted food.

WASHINGTON - Members of a Senate panel rebuked federal health and food safety regulators yesterday for their slow intervention in the nation's peanut-borne salmonella outbreak, demanding that officials find ways to cooperate when responsibility is split among different agencies. "All of this happened because of a failure - the failure of our government to prevent unsafe food from entering the food chain," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.

After years of food poisoning episodes, tainted imports and unrealized promises of reform, the incoming Obama administration has been saying the embattled Food and Drug Administration would finally get what it needed to make the nation's food supply safer. But now, some of the leading champions of rebuilding the FDA and the food safety system acknowledge that big reforms are likely still years away. "This is an issue that will have to wait its turn," said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and longtime proponent of tougher food laws and a friend of President-elect Obama.

WASHINGTON - The outbreak of salmonella poisoning that sickened more than 1,300 people across the country and cost American tomato growers more than $300 million has been traced to peppers grown on a farm in Mexico, federal officials said yesterday. "Now we have a smoking gun, it appears," said Lonnie King, who directs investigations of food-borne illnesses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. David Acheson, the head of food safety at the Food and Drug Administration, said the strain of Salmonella Saintpaul that caused the nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and serrano peppers on a Mexican farm.

Would we accept it if the federal agency charged with highway safety allowed cars on the road without brakes - and then warned drivers to exercise extreme caution in order to avoid injury and death? Of course not. But that, in effect is the U.S. government's approach to something that affects all of us on the most basic level: the safety of the meat, poultry and produce that we eat. Americans are noticing that food safety problems are occurring more often - and with the source identified less often.

Since mid-April, a record national salmonella outbreak has claimed 943 victims in 40 states. All of the cases, including 29 in Maryland, have the same genetic footprint. Despite that clue, investigators appear no closer to pinpointing the source. Tomatoes were suspected at first, but the search has been broadened to include jalapeno peppers, cilantro and green onions. As the futile investigation continues, it is becoming clear that Bush administration officials have shortchanged the nation's efforts to protect the food we eat. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for ensuring the safety of 80 percent of the country's food supply, almost $470 billion in fruits, vegetables, seafood and other products.

WASHINGTON - Investigators are seeing more signs that the salmonella outbreak blamed on tomatoes might have been caused by tainted jalapeno peppers and have begun collecting samples from restaurants and from the homes of those who have been sickened, according to health officials involved in the probe. New interviews with those who became infected found that many had eaten jalapeno peppers, often in salsa served with Mexican food, according to two state health officials. So far, none of the jalapenos taken from restaurants and from the homes of those who became ill have tested positive for Salmonella saintpaul.

WASHINGTON - Investigators probing the salmonella outbreak that mysteriously keeps infecting Americans have expanded their hunt beyond tomatoes and are looking to see whether other produce may be responsible, federal health officials confirmed yesterday. It was the strongest indication to date by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that weeks of focus on tomatoes as the culprit may have been a mistake, something that state health officials and other scientists increasingly fear.