Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser [195]
For the general reader, the two best books on foodborne pathogens are Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth about a Food Chain Gone Haywire (New York: Basic Books, 1997) and It Was Probably Something You Ate: A Practical Guide to Avoiding and Surviving Foodborne Illness (New York: Penguin, 1999). Nicols Fox is the author of both, and she was extremely generous about sharing her unsettling knowledge with me. Dr. Neal D. Bernard, at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, told me in gruesome detail what America’s livestock are being fed today. I am grateful to Lee Harding, Nancy Donley, and Mary Heersink — three people whose lives were changed in varying degrees by E. coli 0157:H7 — for speaking to me about their experiences. Donna Rosenbaum, one of the founders of Safe Tables Our Priority, provided much useful information about the meatpacking industry’s role in outbreaks. Heather Klinkhamer, the former program director at STOP, graciously let me rummage through her files and borrow literally hundreds of them.
David Theno and Tim Biela spent a day with me, explaining how currently available technology has helped Jack in the Box reduce the threat of foodborne illness. Steve Bjerklie shared his expertise on the meat industry’s response to food safety issues. For the Hudson Beef outbreak and federal meat recall policy, I relied heavily on the transcripts of two USDA meetings: the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection meeting held in Washington, D.C., September 10, 1997, and the FSIS Recall Policy Public Meeting held in Arlington, Virginia, September 24, 1997. Jan Sharp, one of the U.S. attorneys in the Hudson Foods case, and Steve Kay, the editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly, were also helpful. David Kroeger, the president of the Midwest Council of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, spoke to me about the effects of the Streamlined Inspection System during the late 1980s and of the reduced inspections under today’s new HACCP plans. The other USDA meat inspectors that I interviewed were equally informative but preferred not to be named. Felicia Nestor, at the Government Accountability Project, sent me a thick stack of USDA inspection reports given to her by federal whistleblowers. A straightforward account of the effort to create a science-based system of meat inspection can be found in Food Safety: Risk-Based Inspections and Microbial Monitoring Needed for Meat and Poultry (GAO Reports, June 1, 1994). The Center for Public Integrity has done a fine job investigating the meatpacking industry’s close ties to members of Congress. One of its reports, Safety Last: The Politics of E. coli and other Food-Borne Pathogens (Washington, D.C.: Center for Public Integrity, 1998) outlines how public health measures have in recent years been framed to suit the needs of well-funded private interests.
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193 called Sandra Gallegos: For the investigation of Harding’s illness, I relied on interviews with Lee Harding and Sandra Gallegos, as well as on Julie Collins, “Hudson Beef Recall: How the Link Was Discovered,” Journal of Environmental Health, December 1, 1997; Tom Kenworthy, “Friendly Barbecue May Have Led to Meat Recall,” Washington Post, August 24, 1997; Tom Morgenthau, “Health Pros’ Detective Work Helps Arrest Villain E. coli,” Portland Oregonian, August 31, 1997; Ann Schrader, “Tracing E. coli to Meat Earns Awards for Workers,” Denver Post, September 18, 1997; and the transcript of the NAC Meat and Poultry Inspection Hearing, September 10, 1997.
194 Colorado was one of only six states: Meat and Poultry Inspection Hearing transcript, p. 396.
primarily to supply hamburgers for the Burger King chain: See Melanie Warner, “How Tyson Ate Hudson,” Fortune, October 27, 1997.
Roughly 35 million pounds of ground beef: See Steve Kay, “Hudson Recall Was Larger Than Reported,” Cattle Buyers Weekly, September 29, 1997. Kay’s estimate may in fact be too conservative, since it is based on a production rate of 400,000