More than 500-million eggs have been recalled after outbreaks of salmonella nationwide. The head of the FDA says her agency needs more authority to prevent food borne illnesses. Forum discusses the weaknesses in food safety regulation and what should be done.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:

• Bill Marler, food safety attorney
• Dan Sumner, professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis
• Lyndsey Layton, staff writer for the Washington Post
• William Hubbard, former associate commissioner for the FDA

Related Links:

• FDA: Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts
• Civil Eats: Egg Gaps Illustrate Fractured Food Safety System by Helena Bottemiller
• The Atlantic: The Egg Industry's Full-Page Ad, Translated by Marion Nestle
• NYTimes: Heart of Iowa as Fault Line of Egg Recall by Monica Davey
• HuffPost: Tainted Meat/Rotten Eggs: What Does It Really Take to Make Food Safe? by Alison Rose Levy
• NPR: Salmonella Found In Chicken Feed At 2 Iowa Farms
• NPR: Tainted Eggs Renew Calls For Food Safety Overhaul by April Fulton
• NPR: How To Stay Safe During The Egg Recalls by Whitney Blair Wyckoff

Grist:

• After a half billion bad eggs get released, the FDA reveals filthy conditions of Wright County Egg by Tom Philpott

Listen Live to Food Safety on KQED 88.5FM Fri, Apr 10, 2009 -- 9:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Food Safety on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 4/10 late eve)


Food Safety
Last month, the Obama administration vowed to upgrade food safety laws for the 21st century. Just last week, traces of salmonella in a central California pistachio processing plant sparked a nationwide recall of the nut. What does the future hold for food safety?

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of "Food Politics," "Safe Food," "What to Eat" and "Pet Food Politics."

David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods with the FDA.

Elisa Odabashian, director of the West Coast Office and State Campaign for Consumers' Union, a nonprofit organization working for an equitable and safe marketplace and publisher of Consumer Reports.

Serena Vinter, senior research associate with Trust For America's Health, a non-profit, non partisan organization dedicated to advancing public health issues in the U.S.

Tweets on Twitter @bayareabites:

HR 875 Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

Consumers Union Food Safety

Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Full Belly Farm

USDA website FDA website

Marion Nestle's books on Food Safety and Food Politics

Marion Nestle's Food Matters column on SFGate

Marion Nestle posts at The Atlantic Food section. On Pistachio Recalls, FDA Tries New Approach

Trust for America's Health: Keeping America's Food Safe: A Blueprint for Fixing the Food Safety System

FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts Sign up for email alerts.

CDC's FoodNet: The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network

NYTimes: U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving