food safety | The Pump Handle

FOIA Final USDA poultry rule: Line speeds stay the same, but no word from OSHA; food safety advocates call it a step backwards

August 1, 2014 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

For 17 years, Salvadora Roman deboned chickens on the processing line at Wayne Farms in Decatur, Alabama. Because of the repetitive movement and speed of the processing line, Roman developed a chronic and painful hand injury that affects her ability to do even the most basic household chores. About three years ago, she was fired from the plant for taking time off work to visit a doctor for the injury she sustained on the line.

Environmental Health Occupational Health News Roundup

July 15, 2014 Kim Krisberg

Workers at an Alabama car seat manufacturer speak out about workplace illnesses; worker death at a Pennsylvania sugar plant could have been prevented; Los Angeles activists join fight for a living wage; and income inequality gets a laugh.

Environmental Health OSHA issues new whistleblower protections for food industry workers

March 12, 2014 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

When President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law in 2011, it was described as the most sweeping reform of the nation’s food safety laws in nearly a century. Public health advocates hailed the law for shifting regulatory authority from reaction to prevention. What received less attention was a first-of-its-kind provision that protects workers who expose food safety lawbreakers.

Cancer Study: Replacing BPA in food products could save billions in health costs

January 31, 2014 Kim Krisberg 3Comment

In a first-of-its-kind study, a researcher has estimated that the health-related economic savings of removing bisphenol A from our food supply is a whopping $1.74 billion annually. And that’s a conservative estimate.

Food Safety & Nutrition Reality check on USDA’s claims about its plan to privatize poultry inspection

January 28, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The wisdom of USDA’s plan to privatize poultry inspection is striking newspaper editors as an unwise move. USDA is rebutting the opinion pieces, but their assertions need a dose of reality.

Food Safety & Nutrition How San Francisco restaurant inspectors help assure workers get paid

December 6, 2013 Kim Krisberg 2Comment

There are few factors that shape a person’s health as strongly and predictably as income. And while enforcing wage and labor laws may at first seem outside the purview of public health agencies, Rajiv Bhatia adamantly disagrees. In fact, he says that public health may wield the most persuasive stick in town.

Environmental Health Thanksgiving turkey gets Presidential pardon – Turkey workers, however, can’t get a break

November 26, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman

As Americans prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday and the White House gets ready for President Obama to pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a Rose Garden ceremony on Wednesday November 27 that will “reflect upon the time-honored traditions of Thanksgiving,” let us take a moment to reflect upon the welfare of the men and women […]

Environmental Health Salmonella, crippled workers, tortured chickens, and toxic chemicals: Surely USDA is now ready to ditch its plan to “modernize” poultry inspection

November 5, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

How much more evidence does Secretary Vilsack need before he scraps the USDA’s ill-conceived proposal to “modernize” the poultry slaughter inspection process?

Food Safety & Nutrition Senator Gillibrand introduces “Safe Meat & Poultry Act,” recognizes hazards for plant workers

September 19, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Senator Gillibrand’s “Safe Meat & Poultry Act” includes one short provision that really caught my eye. USDA would need to rely on OSHA’s determination on what is an appropriate line speed to ensure the health of plant workers is protected.

Food Safety & Nutrition Do you want overworked inspectors in charge of your meat’s safety?

August 12, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

Some USDA meat and poultry inspectors work many hours of overtime. USDA insists it doesn’t affect their critical food safety responsibilities.