Food Safety Action: What a Difference Investigative Reporting Makes | Civil Eats

Food Safety Action: What a Difference Investigative Reporting Makes

marler times

Last Sunday, investigative reporter for the New York Times Michael Moss took a hard look at a hamburger contaminated with e. coli, following the elaborate path it took from multiple cows and slaughterhouses and through various processes to one of the victim’s plates, a 22-year old dance instructor, now paralyzed, named Stephanie Smith. The piece was a shocker because it showed just how unaccountable these companies have become in the face of an often powerless and conflicted USDA. The piece is still on the most-emailed list of the NYT website as of this writing, it pushed Tyson into a deal with Costco over testing, and it is even being discussed in Washington, according to a follow-up piece featured today by Moss.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack responded to the article right away, adding later that the Obama administration was going to ask congress for legislation that would allow the USDA to conduct mandatory recalls — a crucial first step in making sure fewer people fall ill after eating contaminated meat.

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), chairwoman of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee sent a letter to Secretary Vilsack, and spoke on the record for Moss, agreeing that indeed the USDA did face a conflict of interest. She was quoted as saying:

“The U.S.D.A. is supposed to be protecting public health and at the same time be promoting agricultural products, and my view is that those two things don’t mix.”

Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), chairwoman of the Rules Committee, read parts of Sunday’s article on the floor of the House on Wednesday, and spoke about how these pathogens in our meat and antibiotics were effecting our ability to export our meat to Europe. She is the author of a bill called the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (which we wrote about here), that seeks to limit the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, something that has successfully been done in Europe. We give 70% of our antibiotics to animals in this country in order to keep them in close confinement. (We have written about antibiotics and confinement operations in various ways here at Civil Eats: possible links to swine flu, the work ahead for Obama’s Food Safety Working Group, on how we treat the animals we eat, and the case for regulating confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).)

The success of this article shows that the public is eager to be more informed on these issues, and that Washington and corporations act differently when held accountable. Congratulations to Michael Moss for the successful story, and to the New York Times for taking on reporting on our broken food system.

newsmatch 2023 banner - donate to support civil eats

We’ll bring the news to you.

Get the weekly Civil Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox.

Paula Crossfield is a founder and the Editor-at-large of Civil Eats. She is also a co-founder of the Food & Environment Reporting Network. Her reporting has been featured in The Nation, Gastronomica, Index Magazine, The New York Times and more, and she has been a contributing producer at The Leonard Lopate Show on New York Public Radio. An avid cook and gardener, she currently lives in Oakland. Read more >

Like the story?
Join the conversation.

  1. annie avery
    wow, who'd a thunk?? just when you think all this activism is amounting to zilch; BAM! an article hits hard and makes a dent. wonderful!!

More from

2023 Farm Bill

Featured

Injured divers work on various exercises in a small rehabilitation room at the hospital. Dr. Henzel Roberto Pérez, the deputy director of information management at the hospital, said that one of the many problems with the lobster diving industry is “Children are working for these companies. At least one of the companies is from the United States.” (Photo credit: Jacky Muniello)

Diving—and Dying—for Red Gold: The Human Cost of Honduran Lobster

The Walton Family Foundation invested in a Honduran lobster fishery, targeting its sustainability and touting its success. Ten years later, thousands of workers have been injured or killed. 

Popular

This Indigenous Cook Wants to Help Readers Decolonize Their Diets

author Sara Calvosa Olson and the cover of her book about indigenous foods and foodways, Chimi Nu'am. (Photo courtesy of Sara Calvosa Olson)

This #GivingTuesday, Help Us Celebrate Our Successes

prize winning squash for giving tuesday!

Can Virtual Fences Help More Ranchers Adopt Regenerative Grazing Practices?

A goat grazing with one of them virtual fencing collars on its neck. (Photo credit: Lisa Held)

With Season 2, ‘High on the Hog’ Deepens the Story of the Nation’s Black Food Traditions

Stephen Satterfield and Jessica B. Harris watching the sunset at the beach, in a still from Netflix's High on the Hog Season 2. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)