CDC Says Little Progress In U.S. Food Safety

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says Americans did not suffer more food poisoning in 2008, despite high-profile cases like the peanut butter salmonella outbreak linked to a south Georgia plant. But a new CDC study also warns that Georgia and a handful of other states have made little—if any-progress in food safety over the past four years.

The study’s key statement is this: The U.S. has "reached a plateau in the prevention of food-borne disease." It calls for new efforts to make food safer from the farm to the table.

The CDC’s study looked at 10 states, including Georgia. It showed the number of food-borne infections declining over the past decade. But, by 2004 they leveled-off. And Georgia in particular has the second-highest rate of salmonella among the 10 states.

That’s due in part to the latest salmonella outbreak at a peanut plant in Blakely, which sickened nearly 700 people nationwide.

State lawmakers answered that alarm in the just-completed legislative session by overwhelmingly passing a bill to toughen food safety rules and regulations. State Republican Senator John Bulloch says the bill he co-sponsored is a good start:

"The tools that we put in place for the Dept of Agriculture is a great improvement over what they had before. Do the things need to be changed?...we don’t know. It may be that next year we need to come back as we see how these new changes have been implemented and what results they have, and maybe there are some other things that need to be changed."

Bulloch says changes already made within the state’s Agriculture Department include an additional five food inspectors in the field, with three of those positions newly-created by the Legislature.

But Bulloch also points out that Georgia should not be taking all the blame for failures in the inspection pipeline:

"At what point does the Food and Drug Administration…where’s their responsibilities? Have they done and have been doing a good job? And I’d say no, they need to change their rules and regulations."

Federal food safety officials say they’re using new tools in an aggressive approach toward reducing food-contamination.

Here in Georgia, Bulloch believes things will get better:

"I would say that going forward, the consuming public should have a higher level of confidence that the products that go to the grocery shelf would be from a Georgia-facility would be by far safer than it could have been in the past."

Senate Bill-80 toughening Georgia’s food safety rules and regulations, awaits Governor Sonny Perdue’s signature.

Tougher Food Safety Measure Passes Senate

A key first victory for legislation aimed at food safety in Georgia crossed a hurdle Wednesday. The state Senate Agriculture Committee voted unanimously for the plan to require food makers to alert state inspectors within 24 hours if initial testing from a plant shows its products are contaminated. The bill also calls for testing by companies at least once-a-year—that would supplement surprise state and federal inspections. All of this is in response to the salmonella outbreak linked to the Blakely peanut plant. The full state Senate will now look at the measure.

New Food Safety Measures Sought

New food safety measures could be on the horizon for Georgia factories.

State senator John Bulloch is proposing a bill that would require companies to regularly test to ensure food safety and to report any tests that show contamination within one business day. Under the measure, state inspectors could also access test result records.

Few states, if any, require food manufacturers to alert state and federal inspectors to the results of their internal tests.

That issue came to light after the Peanut Corporation of America processor was linked to a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and may have contributed to eight deaths.

Federal officials say the company's records show that peanut butter had tested positive for salmonella at least 12 times in 2007 and 2008 but was distributed after it was retested and cleared.

(Associated Press)

FDA: Blakely Plant Did Not Follow Safe Practices

A day after Georgia agriculture officials made public its inspection reports of a Blakely peanut butter plant, officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighed-in with its findings. The FDA says 12 times in the last two years the plant found evidence of salmonella contamination, but still sold its product after an outside lab determined it was safe. Federal health officials also say more than one salmonella strain has been identified from the southwest Georgia plant, owned by Peanut Corporation of America. The company in a statement says it has fully cooperated with the investigation. More than 300 products containing peanut butter have been recalled nationwide. More than 500 people have been sickened, with possibly eight deaths linked to the outbreak. Today at the State Capitol, the Georgia House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs committee will meet to discuss the Blakely-plant outbreak.