President Obama's Food Safety Working Group Website

An online food safety information site for consumers and those working in the area has been set up by the White House Food Safety Working Group.

The group's charge:

To have safe food that does not cause us harm and to enhance our food safety systems by fostering coordination throughout the government including enhancing our food safety laws for the 21st century. These laws will be designed to keep the American people safe and will be enforced.

The group's commitment:

To modernize food safety by building collaborative partnerships with consumers, industry and our regulatory partners. Through a transparent process, build a food safety system that will meet the challenges posed by a global food supply in the 21st century.

The group's website: http://www.foodsafetyworkinggroup.gov/

Harvard survey shows few trust food safety controls

The majority of Americans are aware of the peanut product recall but many are mistaken about which products are involved and few trust food safety controls, according to a Harvard survey ....

The Harvard survey was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was carried out by International Communications Research (ICR). The researchers conducted the survey by telephone, and contacted 1,283 US adults during the week of February 4 to 8.

For the complete Foodproductiondaily.com article, go to Survey shows awareness of peanut recall but misunderstanding.

Jolley: Five Minutes With Bill Marler, Well-known Lawyer, Food Safety Activist

From Chuck Jolley of the Cattle Network:

"Review the huge food recalls of just the past two years and you’ll quickly understand why that hoary old saw We have the safest food supply in the world is quickly becoming a choke point with American consumers and our international trading partners. No matter how often those of us in the food business try to reassure ourselves with that phrase, an increasing number of people are not buying it anymore ....

I called [Bill] Marler to ask a few pointed questions. You’ll find just two themes in this interview. (1) What the hell is going on? And (2) What will be the effects on the cattle industry."

For the full interview go to Jolley: Five Minutes With Bill Marler, Well-known Lawyer, Food Safety Activist.

PwC: From vulnerable to valuable - how integrity can transform a supply chain

"Close monitoring of suppliers will help mitigate supply chain risk for food and drink manufacturers in a volatile trading environment ....

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) said its new publication entitled From vulnerable to valuable: how integrity can transform a supply chain aims to create awareness about how supply chain disruptions threaten shareholder value and provides advice on best practices to put in place to reduce these risks."

See the article, Keep in your suppliers' loop, urges new report. Find there a link for downloading the new report.

The Takeaway: How to make our food safety system stronger

Here's the introduction to an interview of Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney, on The Takeaway on Friday, January 23, 2009:

Salmonella-tainted peanut butter has sickened close to five hundred people in 43 states, and killed six. People started getting sick back in September, but the FDA has only recently pinpointed the source of the infection as King Nut brand peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Georgia. Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food poisoning and advises companies on food safety joins John and Adaora to explain why it takes so long to trace foodbourne illnesses and how the system could be improved.

Click here to listen to the several minute interview.