- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Robert Krieger, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Riverside Department of Entomology, calculated that a child could consume hundreds or even thousands of servings of many popular fruits and vegetables in one day and still not experience any negative health effects from pesticide residues.
To make the Pesticide Residue Calculator, Krieger analyzed the highest residue levels found on fruits and vegetables by the USDA and calculated the number of servings which could be eaten in one day without any negative health effects from the pesticide residues that may be present, according to a news release by the
- Author: Brenda Dawson
An article in The Denver Post by Michael Booth and Jennifer Brown discussed the possibility of criminal charges against Jensen Farms for its involvement in the cantaloupe listeria outbreak. The article discusses the history of legal charges made in food poisoning cases, including issues of willful negligence.
Trevor Suslow, UC Cooperative Extension food safety specialist at Davis, was told by the farm owner that they believed the postharvest system used in conjunction with the outbreak was an improvement over their previous methods — though Suslow disagrees. He acknowledges, however, that the FDA does not...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The recent listeria outbreak in cantaloupe underscores the urgent need for the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act, according to experts quoted in a comprehensive story on food safety published yesterday in the Huffington Post. Since 1998, the FDA and USDA have issued guidance on "Good Agricultural Practices" for producers to follow, but the recommendations are voluntary.
UC food safety expert Michele Jay-Russell said federal officials should draw...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The increasing popularity of buying locally produced foods directly from farmers is accompanied by a parallel rise in concerns about keeping local consumers safe from the same pathogens responsible for nationwide outbreaks of salmonella, listeria and E. coli, according to the second in a three-part MSNBC series about food safety.
According to the story, Richard Molinar, small farm program advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Fresno County, thinks the local food movement will put pressure on local farms to develop food safety...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A heightened awareness of food safety has processors, retailers and consumers demanding that farmers use practices that can be verified as safe, the Fresno Bee reported yesterday. The story focused on the challenges these demands pose for small-scale farmers.
Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez spoke to the owner of an eight-acre Fresno County farm.
"We have been farming for 40 years and have never had a problem, but now we have to document, document, document. I almost burned out my copy machine," the farmer was quoted.
To help growers develop written food safety plans, UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor