Food safety is a scientific discipline describing the handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards. Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. In developed countries there are intricate standards for food preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries the main issue is simply the availability of adequate safe water, which is usually a critical item.

Legislation introduced today by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) would establish a national program to assure the safety of fresh produce. The introduction of the Fresh Produce Safety Act comes one year after the biggest recall of fresh produce in American history, when spinach contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 sickened 205..

Bush took a potentially useful step last week, appointing a cabinet-level committee to find ways to ensure the safety of imported food and other products..His actions would be a lot more credible if the admin. had not been cutting the staff and budget of food safety programs at the FDA while also planning to eliminate half of the agency's labs.

A new federal program for livestock tracking will benefit big corporations, threaten small producers and do nothing to protect consumer health.