APP - protection for food industry whistle blowers

[Schadenfreude]

this is a good thing, but why not for all industries


New food safety law protects whistle blowers
​

Associated Press/AP Online


By STEVE KARNOWSKI MINNEAPOLIS - Food industry workers who become whistle-blowers gained protection against retaliation from their employers with a little-noticed provision in the sweeping food safety law President Barack Obama signed last month.

The Food Safety and Modernization Act is best known for sections that aim to prevent food borne illnesses, allow the Food and Drug Administration to order recalls and make it easier to trace contaminated food to its source.

But the law also protects workers at food companies regulated by the FDA from being fired, demoted or denied promotions or raises if they speak up about what they think are violations.

Protections mean little if the workers covered by them don't know they exist, so the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit whistle blowing organization that supported the new safeguards, was sponsoring a conference Friday in Washington to raise awareness.

Lawyers, activists and government officials were expected to attend.
"Whistle blowers are the informational lifeline to warn the public when government-approved food might be a public health hazard," said Tom Devine, the group's legal director. "It occurs frequently because the regulatory system can't hope to catch all the violations through spot checks."

Among those speaking will be Kenneth Kendrick who spoke out in 2009 about unsanitary conditions at a Peanut Corp. of America plant in Texas.

His claims drew attention after a Peanut Corp. plant in Georgia was blamed for a 2008-09 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more.

Kendrick, the Texas plant's assistant manager for part of 2006, said he sent state regulators anonymous e-mails about a rat infestation at the plant and bird droppings getting into products, but his complaints were ignored. He was working for a different FDA-regulated company when he spoke publicly about the problems, and he believes that's why he was fired from his new job and why he's had trouble finding work since.

"Me coming forward has pretty much ruined my life, and had this stuff been in place ahead of time, maybe it would not have," the Lubbock, Texas, man said. "I've had a difficult time finding a job that pays more than nine bucks an hour."

The new law protects workers against retaliation for telling their employers or governmental officials about anything they reasonably believe violates the food safety act and for objecting to performing work they reasonably believe is illegal. The Department of Labor and federal courts can reinstate fired employees and award back pay, interest, attorneys' fees and other damages.

The burden of proof favors workers. All workers need to do initially is show their participation in protected activity may have contributed to repercussions. Employers face a heavier burden because they must then show with clear and convincing evidence that the company would have taken the same action even if the worker hadn't been a whistleblower.

One of the law's leading congressional champions was Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"Workers on the front lines should never have to hesitate to sound the alarm when they discover practices that could compromise public safety," Harkin said in a written statement. "Unless workers are free to speak out without fear of retaliation, we might never learn about threats to public safety until it's too late."

The law only covers food businesses regulated by the FDA. Workers in the meatpacking and poultry industries, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remain unprotected. Devine said sponsors told him they wanted to avoid sending the bill through more committees, where it could have attracted opposition, but his group will push for similar protection for workers at USDA-regulated operations.

Lawyers who represent food and agribusiness companies said the law is likely to have a widespread effect because it covers so many workers. They said companies need know they have to make it safe for employees to report problems, and they're advising clients to make sure managers know how to respond appropriately when workers come forward.

While whistleblower laws cover workers in some other areas, the food safety act protects a much wider range of activities than most of the other statutes, said Kathy Noecker, an attorney with the Minneapolis law firm Faegre & Benson. That raises the risk that workers could abuse the law with frivolous claims to shield themselves from legitimate discipline, she said.

While some workers may be "professional complainers," it's a worthwhile trade-off if it means exposing practices that put people at risk, said Mary Pivec, an attorney with the Washington law firm Keller and Heckman.

Ideally, the protections will help workers feel safe in reporting problems to managers and encourage companies respond quickly before they become public health issues, said Allen Roberts, chairman of the whistle blowing and compliance group at the New York law firm EpsteinBeckerGreen.
---
Online:

Government Accountability Project: http://www.whistleblower.org

Food Integrity Campaign: http://foodwhistleblower.org

A service of YellowBrix, Inc. .

 

[Lowaicue]

this is a good thing, but why not for all industries


New food safety law protects whistle blowers
​

Associated Press/AP Online


By STEVE KARNOWSKI MINNEAPOLIS - Food industry workers who become whistle-blowers gained protection against retaliation from their employers with a little-noticed provision in the sweeping food safety law President Barack Obama signed last month.

The Food Safety and Modernization Act is best known for sections that aim to prevent food borne illnesses, allow the Food and Drug Administration to order recalls and make it easier to trace contaminated food to its source.

But the law also protects workers at food companies regulated by the FDA from being fired, demoted or denied promotions or raises if they speak up about what they think are violations.

Protections mean little if the workers covered by them don't know they exist, so the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit whistle blowing organization that supported the new safeguards, was sponsoring a conference Friday in Washington to raise awareness.

Lawyers, activists and government officials were expected to attend.
"Whistle blowers are the informational lifeline to warn the public when government-approved food might be a public health hazard," said Tom Devine, the group's legal director. "It occurs frequently because the regulatory system can't hope to catch all the violations through spot checks."

Among those speaking will be Kenneth Kendrick who spoke out in 2009 about unsanitary conditions at a Peanut Corp. of America plant in Texas.

His claims drew attention after a Peanut Corp. plant in Georgia was blamed for a 2008-09 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more.

Kendrick, the Texas plant's assistant manager for part of 2006, said he sent state regulators anonymous e-mails about a rat infestation at the plant and bird droppings getting into products, but his complaints were ignored. He was working for a different FDA-regulated company when he spoke publicly about the problems, and he believes that's why he was fired from his new job and why he's had trouble finding work since.

"Me coming forward has pretty much ruined my life, and had this stuff been in place ahead of time, maybe it would not have," the Lubbock, Texas, man said. "I've had a difficult time finding a job that pays more than nine bucks an hour."

The new law protects workers against retaliation for telling their employers or governmental officials about anything they reasonably believe violates the food safety act and for objecting to performing work they reasonably believe is illegal. The Department of Labor and federal courts can reinstate fired employees and award back pay, interest, attorneys' fees and other damages.

The burden of proof favors workers. All workers need to do initially is show their participation in protected activity may have contributed to repercussions. Employers face a heavier burden because they must then show with clear and convincing evidence that the company would have taken the same action even if the worker hadn't been a whistleblower.

One of the law's leading congressional champions was Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"Workers on the front lines should never have to hesitate to sound the alarm when they discover practices that could compromise public safety," Harkin said in a written statement. "Unless workers are free to speak out without fear of retaliation, we might never learn about threats to public safety until it's too late."

The law only covers food businesses regulated by the FDA. Workers in the meatpacking and poultry industries, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remain unprotected. Devine said sponsors told him they wanted to avoid sending the bill through more committees, where it could have attracted opposition, but his group will push for similar protection for workers at USDA-regulated operations.

Lawyers who represent food and agribusiness companies said the law is likely to have a widespread effect because it covers so many workers. They said companies need know they have to make it safe for employees to report problems, and they're advising clients to make sure managers know how to respond appropriately when workers come forward.

While whistleblower laws cover workers in some other areas, the food safety act protects a much wider range of activities than most of the other statutes, said Kathy Noecker, an attorney with the Minneapolis law firm Faegre & Benson. That raises the risk that workers could abuse the law with frivolous claims to shield themselves from legitimate discipline, she said.

While some workers may be "professional complainers," it's a worthwhile trade-off if it means exposing practices that put people at risk, said Mary Pivec, an attorney with the Washington law firm Keller and Heckman.

Ideally, the protections will help workers feel safe in reporting problems to managers and encourage companies respond quickly before they become public health issues, said Allen Roberts, chairman of the whistle blowing and compliance group at the New York law firm EpsteinBeckerGreen.
---
Online:

Government Accountability Project: http://www.whistleblower.org

Food Integrity Campaign: http://foodwhistleblower.org

A service of YellowBrix, Inc. .

The main danger of an unregulated food production system is in the use of GM and selectively bred animals and plants. Not because they are unsafe healthwise, but because they represent one of the greatest dangers to world well-being in existence today.

They 'sell' us the idea that they are producing more food per acre, more bacon per pig, less feathers per chicken but what they do not tell us is that GM research and other 'scientific' food breeding and rearing programmes are going to put the production and availability of food, and what you put on your table, and the percentage of your salary spent on food into the protected, dirty, corrupt hands of just a few large companies.

Yes, its good that the ordinary worker need not be afraid to speak out, but let him speak out at the revolting production of chickens (18(?) per square metre in permanent darkness), or cattle with outsized rumps delivering 4 times as many steaks and unable to lead healthy lives.

Scientists engaged in factory food production (it is not farming) should be answerable to the general public. We have a right to know about 'glow-in-the-dark' rabbits, salmon that reach maturity in a fraction of the time it takes in the wild. We have a right to demand that local ecology is not harmed by private enterprise. I want my kids and grand kids to see butterflies and hear birdsong.
I want tomatoes with flavour where size and shape are not important. I want Cox's Orange Pippin apples, I want beer made with at least some natural ingredients.

Dont you?

 

[Schadenfreude]

The main danger of an unregulated food production system is in the use of GM and selectively bred animals and plants. Not because they are unsafe healthwise, but because they represent one of the greatest dangers to world well-being in existence today.

They 'sell' us the idea that they are producing more food per acre, more bacon per pig, less feathers per chicken but what they do not tell us is that GM research and other 'scientific' food breeding and rearing programmes are going to put the production and availability of food, and what you put on your table, and the percentage of your salary spent on food into the protected, dirty, corrupt hands of just a few large companies.

Yes, its good that the ordinary worker need not be afraid to speak out, but let him speak out at the revolting production of chickens (18(?) per square metre in permanent darkness), or cattle with outsized rumps delivering 4 times as many steaks and unable to lead healthy lives.

Scientists engaged in factory food production (it is not farming) should be answerable to the general public. We have a right to know about 'glow-in-the-dark' rabbits, salmon that reach maturity in a fraction of the time it takes in the wild. We have a right to demand that local ecology is not harmed by private enterprise. I want my kids and grand kids to see butterflies and hear birdsong.
I want tomatoes with flavour where size and shape are not important. I want Cox's Orange Pippin apples, I want beer made with at least some natural ingredients.

Dont you?

 

[Lao Tse]

Communism! Free trade means we have to eat rat shit! Damn libruls.

 

[hotdog]

Communism! Free trade means we have to eat rat shit! Damn libruls.

I thought it was republicans that loved free trade and big business.

 

[Lao Tse]

I thought it was republicans that loved free trade and big business.

Thats interesting.

 

[Lowaicue]

Communism! Free trade means we have to eat rat shit! Damn libruls.

It is not communism that dictates the consumption of rat shit. It is not liberals who dictate whether we eat or not, it is not socialism that starves half the world's population, it is pure, unadulterated, rampant, corrupt capitalism. In the people vs profit race, profit will ALWAYS win.
Live with it or fight for your rights.

 

[Schadenfreude]

It is not communism that dictates the consumption of rat shit. It is not liberals who dictate whether we eat or not, it is not socialism that starves half the world's population, it is pure, unadulterated, rampant, corrupt capitalism. In the people vs profit race, profit will ALWAYS win.
Live with it or fight for your rights.

without profits companies cannot exist, however, that does not mean that they cannot produce safe food, hence the fda and usda

 

[Lowaicue]

without profits companies cannot exist, however, that does not mean that they cannot produce safe food, hence the fda and usda

No one objects to a profit, of course. However I think (and if I could be bothered to get off my arse I might check) that mark-ups have increased over the last two or three decades. With the reduction, for example, in major food companies in almost every country, quantities are now so large that the supermarkets now dictate price and quality to the farms. (Yes, yes, they dictated before - but only by actual demand.)
A friend of mine imports chilled pork and he asked me to read a letter he had just received from his biggest customer. It said, to paraphrase, that in future all future invoice payments would be subject to a 10 to 15% discount and they were sure that as a loyal supplier he would agree rather than lose that half of his entire business! Yes, he did it. But the quality suffered. Suppliers will always make a profit so when your local supermarket squeezes, quality will suffer.
Case 2. Our local branch of a major supermarket was selling potatoes for approx US$1.6 per 100 grams!!!!!!! When challenged, the buyer told me that as they came from America transport costs were high. I investigated through friends in the freight business and discovered that transport from the US was only marginally more than from other countries whose potatoes sold in the local market for about US$1.5 per kilo!!!
When challenged the buyer ceased communication.
I guarantee that the same occurs in the US and in the UK. Profits on many food lines (even special offers) are in excess of 50% (CP $5, SP $10).
Sorry I've rambled a bit. But lets just say we have been sold (again) the idea that profit is not a dirty word, but THEIR definition of profit and mine of price gouging match exactly.
Hence, to refer to a previous post, cows that can hardly walk with huge rear ends, chickens bred featherless, poultry with almost no taste at all.
Not to mention goats with milk containing spider silk!
Honestly we MUST stop these people. I do not understand why people do not care.
If everyone on here (and this is NOT a party political issue) were to research, challenge the Tescos, Walmarts etc and spread the word to just two people who did the same to another two people each, something might get done.
Any takers?

 

[Schadenfreude]

No one objects to a profit, of course. However I think (and if I could be bothered to get off my arse I might check) that mark-ups have increased over the last two or three decades. With the reduction, for example, in major food companies in almost every country, quantities are now so large that the supermarkets now dictate price and quality to the farms. (Yes, yes, they dictated before - but only by actual demand.)
A friend of mine imports chilled pork and he asked me to read a letter he had just received from his biggest customer. It said, to paraphrase, that in future all future invoice payments would be subject to a 10 to 15% discount and they were sure that as a loyal supplier he would agree rather than lose that half of his entire business! Yes, he did it. But the quality suffered. Suppliers will always make a profit so when your local supermarket squeezes, quality will suffer.
Case 2. Our local branch of a major supermarket was selling potatoes for approx US$1.6 per 100 grams!!!!!!! When challenged, the buyer told me that as they came from America transport costs were high. I investigated through friends in the freight business and discovered that transport from the US was only marginally more than from other countries whose potatoes sold in the local market for about US$1.5 per kilo!!!
When challenged the buyer ceased communication.
I guarantee that the same occurs in the US and in the UK. Profits on many food lines (even special offers) are in excess of 50% (CP $5, SP $10).
Sorry I've rambled a bit. But lets just say we have been sold (again) the idea that profit is not a dirty word, but THEIR definition of profit and mine of price gouging match exactly.
Hence, to refer to a previous post, cows that can hardly walk with huge rear ends, chickens bred featherless, poultry with almost no taste at all.
Not to mention goats with milk containing spider silk!
Honestly we MUST stop these people. I do not understand why people do not care.
If everyone on here (and this is NOT a party political issue) were to research, challenge the Tescos, Walmarts etc and spread the word to just two people who did the same to another two people each, something might get done.
Any takers?

we buy our produce from a local farmers market - support your local farmers and buy local

we buy our meat from a non-franchise food market that buys its own meat and breaks it down - i realize that most people cannot afford to buy from a butcher or do not have the time to go to more than one place for their food needs

what was that saying, buy local and think global

 

[Lowaicue]

we buy our produce from a local farmers market - support your local farmers and buy local

we buy our meat from a non-franchise food market that buys its own meat and breaks it down - i realize that most people cannot afford to buy from a butcher or do not have the time to go to more than one place for their food needs

what was that saying, buy local and think global

Did I hear you say, 'I'm alright, Jack'?

Where we, as individuals, shop does not answer the urgency of the problem.
Many years ago I visited a farm in Chichester in Sussex, where they were growing grains salvaged from a Roman villa dig. In Norway (Svalbard Global Seed Vault) there is an enormous seed bank. Some farmers, in the UK at least, are stocking traditional breeds.

Why?

Because they care! They care about this handsome and bountifil spinning orb we call home.

It is good that you shop at a farmers' market, but that, by no means, absolves you from responsibility!

If you had had a childhood in the English countryside you might have, like we did, lain beneath the summer sun in hay fields chewing on a blade of grass and staring up at the skylark. There was always a skylark.... and dozens of different moths and beetles and stuff. All are now fast disappearing. And it is YOUR fault ... and mine ... and his ... and hers.

In the summer time we would collect frog spawn and newts and things. Our favourite was the Great Crested Newt because it was a rare and handsome creature, but most summers saw a few appear in jam jars somewhere. Sloworms were also a common if transient pet. Both are now subject of special protection laws. Our kids will never see them.

But we can buy tasteless chickens for not much more than a dollar each! Is that a fair swap???

 

[Schadenfreude]

Did I hear you say, 'I'm alright, Jack'?

Where we, as individuals, shop does not answer the urgency of the problem.
Many years ago I visited a farm in Chichester in Sussex, where they were growing grains salvaged from a Roman villa dig. In Norway (Svalbard Global Seed Vault) there is an enormous seed bank. Some farmers, in the UK at least, are stocking traditional breeds.

Why?

Because they care! They care about this handsome and bountifil spinning orb we call home.

It is good that you shop at a farmers' market, but that, by no means, absolves you from responsibility!

If you had had a childhood in the English countryside you might have, like we did, lain beneath the summer sun in hay fields chewing on a blade of grass and staring up at the skylark. There was always a skylark.... and dozens of different moths and beetles and stuff. All are now fast disappearing. And it is YOUR fault ... and mine ... and his ... and hers.

In the summer time we would collect frog spawn and newts and things. Our favourite was the Great Crested Newt because it was a rare and handsome creature, but most summers saw a few appear in jam jars somewhere. Sloworms were also a common if transient pet. Both are now subject of special protection laws. Our kids will never see them.

But we can buy tasteless chickens for not much more than a dollar each! Is that a fair swap???

we care, we do not use poisons or artificial fertilizer and we compost

on our 5 acres we have a multitude of deciduous and evergreen trees

unfortunately we have sold this place and will be moving to a smaller lot and house - the place is just too big for us - bummer, we will miss it

 

[Lowaicue]

we care, we do not use poisons or artificial fertilizer and we compost

on our 5 acres we have a multitude of deciduous and evergreen trees

unfortunately we have sold this place and will be moving to a smaller lot and house - the place is just too big for us - bummer, we will miss it

Sadly you are missing my point. Perhaps I have not made it as clear as I might have done.
You care, thats good. I care, that's good. My friends care, thats good. Do you care enough to try to do something about it? That's what I want to know.
We are all guilty of showing, or at least trying to show, ourselves in a good light, but how many people are prepared to stop this exploitation of people, environment and animals by doing something? Organise your neighbours, research the subject and write to your supermarkets and local newspapers. Ask them what standards they apply to the growing of the produce they sell. Challenge them.
In the UK some people did it last year and got most major supermarkets to demand, for instance, that their chickens were allowed some space in which they could actually be chickens.
If you live in rural America, industrialised production of meat might be light years away. You may still have the same flora and fauna you had as a child but there are whole nations that have changed the biodiversity of their lands, often at the persuasion of the GM companies. There are large parts of India where traditional medicine plants have died out because farmers have been persuaded that a 30% increase in production of marketable crops will bring them riches. It doesn't! Parts of Africa that cannot afford to grow their traditional foods because European supermarkets demand supermarket standard. Mis-shapen apples, tomatoes, potatoes are dumped because the Walmarts and Tescos of the world dont want to actually weigh foods for their customers.
We are constantly told that this is all to keep prices down. Absolute bull-shit! Prices are high because supermarkets are not run by grocers but by economists who gouge and cheat and lie to maximise their own profits at the expence of their customers.
Oh, and if you want to keep your help to yourself, get rid of your dog(s), get rid of your second and third cars, get rid of any vehicle that does less than sixty mpg, but more importantly. spread the message.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Sadly you are missing my point. Perhaps I have not made it as clear as I might have done.
You care, thats good. I care, that's good. My friends care, thats good. Do you care enough to try to do something about it? That's what I want to know.
We are all guilty of showing, or at least trying to show, ourselves in a good light, but how many people are prepared to stop this exploitation of people, environment and animals by doing something? Organise your neighbours, research the subject and write to your supermarkets and local newspapers. Ask them what standards they apply to the growing of the produce they sell. Challenge them.
In the UK some people did it last year and got most major supermarkets to demand, for instance, that their chickens were allowed some space in which they could actually be chickens.
If you live in rural America, industrialised production of meat might be light years away. You may still have the same flora and fauna you had as a child but there are whole nations that have changed the biodiversity of their lands, often at the persuasion of the GM companies. There are large parts of India where traditional medicine plants have died out because farmers have been persuaded that a 30% increase in production of marketable crops will bring them riches. It doesn't! Parts of Africa that cannot afford to grow their traditional foods because European supermarkets demand supermarket standard. Mis-shapen apples, tomatoes, potatoes are dumped because the Walmarts and Tescos of the world dont want to actually weigh foods for their customers.
We are constantly told that this is all to keep prices down. Absolute bull-shit! Prices are high because supermarkets are not run by grocers but by economists who gouge and cheat and lie to maximise their own profits at the expence of their customers.
Oh, and if you want to keep your help to yourself, get rid of your dog(s), get rid of your second and third cars, get rid of any vehicle that does less than sixty mpg, but more importantly. spread the message.

ok, i get it, organize

funny that you should mention walmart, the walmart were we are moving to has just won an ok to expand to include a grocery section

ps we expect to have finished moving by april fools day, dq should return sometime in april, we have agreed to split up jpp with him taking app and i will take current events