Food & Drug Safety

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Efforts to Reform FDA Begin

President Barack Obama and Congress recently began efforts aimed at shoring up the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency battered by recent consumer safety problems and declining resources. In a March 14 address, Obama named two officials he wants to lead the agency and announced the creation of a working group to propose food safety reforms. Congress is once again trying to craft legislation aimed at providing greater consumer protections and restoring resources to the agency.

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Obama Pledges Food Safety Reform

Mar 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Ensuring the safety of the food and drug supply is something “only a government can do,” President Obama said on Saturday. Obama used his weekly address to shine a bright spotlight on food safety, focusing on government’s role in fixing the problems that have led to recent high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks like the current peanut contamination scare.

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USDA Tries to Tighten COOL Rules

Feb 25, 2009 by Matthew Madia

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack is asking, but not telling, the meat industry to go above and beyond labeling requirements set out in new regulations finalized during the Bush administration.

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USDA Announces Changes to Food Labeling Rule

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Feb. 20 that a food labeling rule finalized in the last days of the Bush administration will go into effect as scheduled. The rule has been under review at USDA in accordance with a Jan. 20 memo from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, which placed a moratorium on all final rules not in effect at the time President Barack Obama took office. However, Vilsack is asking food producers to follow additional voluntary country-of-origin labeling practices that could close loopholes left by the Bush rule.

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On Food Safety, Who’s Failing Us?

Feb 10, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The ranks of both federal and state food safety inspectors are dwindling, leaving food processing plants to police themselves, according to an Associated Press investigation.

The recent salmonella outbreak, traced back to a derelict peanut plant in Georgia, has once again thrust the nation’s food safety shortcoming into the spotlight. A different salmonella outbreak was traced to another Georgia peanut butter plant in 2007. The two peanut butter incidences sandwiched other high profile food-borne illness outbreaks, including last summer’s mysterious salmonella episode that was ultimately traced to jalapenos.

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GAO Report Highlights High-Risk Areas

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its latest report to Congress Jan. 22 highlighting the wide range of high-risk areas in government that it urges the new Congress and administration to address. The report updates the areas already on GAO's list and adds three new high-risk areas: the outdated financial regulatory system, medical product oversight and regulation, and toxic chemical assessment.

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An Assault on Public Protections: Regulatory Policy News in 2008

The federal government's ability — and sometimes inability — to protect the public drew national attention throughout 2008. President Bush's and senior administration officials' aversion to regulation and their penchant for allowing the market to operate unchecked appeared more and more outmoded in the face of the collapse of the financial market, the rising tide of dangerous imported products, and persistent examples of environmental degradation.

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Public Wants More Info on Food Labels

A national poll shows strong consumer support for improved food labeling and more frequent inspections of food-processing facilities. According to food safety advocates, Americans want labels that identify use of genetically engineered or cloned ingredients, as well as expanded country-of-origin labeling. Labels are one of the most effective means to inform the public about the health, safety, origins, and environmental impact of a product.

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FDA to Open Regulatory Offices in Foreign Countries

On Oct. 16, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will send personnel overseas to staff offices to help ensure the safety of imported food and drugs. The plan calls for staff to be assigned to offices in China, India, Europe, and Latin America. Many assignments will begin before the end of 2008.

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Foreign Foods Evade FDA's Watch

The ability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to monitor and police imported foods is once again under scrutiny. A public health crisis originally thought to be limited to China crept into the U.S. when FDA announced recalls of products tainted by melamine, a dangerous chemical.

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