News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – German officials today announced that they have tentatively linked bean sprouts grown in the northern part of the country to a massive Escherichia coli outbreak, a development that US experts say could help explain some of the outbreak's puzzling elements.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released newer, more precise estimates of the foodborne illness burden, suggesting 1 in 6 Americans get sick each year, a rate lower than previously thought.

(CIDRAP News) – Ending months of delay, a large bipartisan majority in the US Senate today passed a bill that aims to make the nation's food supply safer by giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more authority over food producers and requiring large producers and processors to develop detailed food safety plans.

(CIDRAP News) – Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., today announced plans to introduce legislation designed to improve the nation's response to foodborne illness outbreaks by promoting use of some of the tools that helped Minnesota officials find the sources of two recent widespread Salmonella outbreaks.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released its inspection findings on the Georgia peanut butter plant that has been linked to a nationwide Salmonella outbreak, saying the company shipped products that had initially tested positive for Salmonella and citing various other questionable practices.

(CIDRAP News) – Experts and industry leaders speaking at congressional hearings this week on the nationwide Salmonella outbreak said federal agencies should take cues from state programs if they want to improve the traceability of fresh produce and the success of foodborne disease outbreak investigations.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials today lifted warnings against eating certain tomatoes and said new clues in the ongoing nationwide Salmonella outbreak have led investigators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explore a Mexican packinghouse that handles jalapeno and Serrano peppers.