News & Perspective

Note: This story was updated March 1, 2002, to include additional information about recent federal actions to prevent mad cow disease.

(CIDRAP News) – There is no complete fix for the problem of foodborne illness, but a comprehensive, farm-to-table approach with specific targets for limiting pathogenic contamination would improve food safety, according to a new report by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).

(CIDRAP News) – Nearly a year and a half after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first proposed to stop the use of enrofloxacin (Baytril, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic) in poultry because of safety concerns, the agency says it plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal. The date of the hearing will be set at a prehearing conference on April 8.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set up a new Web site to help food scientists develop and use mathematical models to predict how pathogenic bacteria in food will behave under varying environmental conditions.

(CIDRAP News) – A study from Taiwan shows a rapid increase in fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis in humans over the past 2 years and suggests that the resistant strain spread from pigs. The findings prompted the researchers to urge a ban on fluoroquinoline use in food animals.

(CIDRAP News) – Merle D. Pierson, PhD, a food microbiologist from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI), has been appointed by Agriculture Secretary Anne M. Veneman as deputy under secretary for food safety in the US Department of Agriculture.

(CIDRAP News) – The proposed 2003 budget for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) features a 45% increase in spending for bioterrorism preparedness, with research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) accounting for much of the increase.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration wants to provide the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) with an extra $146 million to protect the nation's food supply in fiscal 2003.