Perishable Thoughts
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, and I studied it intently. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more. — Sir Winston Churchill My […]
Four Talking Points
For Dr. Acheson To Consider
Dr. David Acheson, FDA’s Associate Commissioner for Foods, devoted a part of the Tuesday evening press conference to looking to the future and ways to do things better. It was truly thin gruel, and in many ways highly insulting to the produce trade. First, he suggested the possibility of an “interagency task force,” which pretty […]
Plea For CDC To Release Sickness
Details And Origin Of Purchase
There are two important pieces of information that the CDC needs to release so we can help it make sense of this outbreak. The first is demographic information, particularly, the ethnic makeup of the sick people. The second is the percentage of people who believe they became sick after eating at a restaurant as opposed […]
Bob Backovich,
Industry Giant,
Passes Away
Just as we were going to press, we received sad news: I don’t know whether you’ve heard the news that Bob Backovich passed away last night of a rare kidney ailment. He was truly one of the old lions of the industry. He precisely fit his nickname of “The Boomer”. — Grant Hunt Grant J. […]
FDA’s Erroneous Statements Clarified By California And Florida Tomato Leaders
As Dr. Acheson has been learning about the produce industry, we wanted to investigate the relevance of some of the points he has been discussing. We asked Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott to find out more. She turned to Ed Beckman, President of the California Tomato Farmers and Reggie Brown, Manager of […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Plenty of FDA Incompetence to Go Around But TheProblem Is A Matter Of Politics, Says Marion Nestle,Esteemed Food Policy Professor
One of the great joys of doing the Pundit has been the opportunity to exchange ideas with brilliant people from across the globe. Today we are honored to receive a note from Marion Nestle, a woman who can only be described as an irreplaceable national resource on public policy as it relates to food and […]
FDA/CDC Violate
Their Own Speculation Policy
FDA and CDC have made a point that they don’t release their speculations. So, for example, neither organization will name any other item, beyond tomatoes, that they are considering as the source for the Salmonella that has spread in this outbreak. This is a reasonable enough policy, if it is followed consistently. Last Friday, however, […]
‘Produce’ Or ‘Food Items’
Although CDC’s Dr. Griffin last Friday said, “This is a produce outbreak,” to distinguish it from a tomato outbreak, CDC’s Dr. Robert Tauxe used a different word in an interview with USA Today. He said “we’re broadening the investigation to be sure it encompasses food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes.” Obviously there is […]
Trace Back The Control Group
One hope for solving this problem and clarifying the cause of this outbreak came out in the FDA/CDC’s recent conference call. It was good news to learn that CDC was basically starting anew and doing new survey work with people who became ill after June 1, 2008. This survey work would involve additional questions and […]
Getting Our Money Back:
Waive Sovereign Immunity
Dr. Robert Tauxe, M.D., M.P.H., was representing CDC on the most recent conference call. He is both smart and knowledgeable; he has contributed additional information to articles we have run on the Pundit, as you can see here. During the CDC’s most recent conference call, he was at pains to point out the complexity of […]
