The recent salmonella outbreak is one of many egg contamination problems at owner Austin DeCoster's facilities since the 1980s. This article details how, as states started banning the sale of his eggs, he simply moved efforts elsewhere to continue operations.
At a hearing of a House Energy and Commerce committee, representatives questioned DeCoster about these repeated problems, after listening to victims who were sickened with salmonella.
GAP Fellow Sarah Damian blogged about the continuous problems caused by our country's lack of food safety oversight -- forcing consumers, states, and foreign countries to follow their own methods of regulation.
Sydney Morning Herald: Dog Food Given to Police Whistleblower
An Australian anti-corruption watchdog group has raised concerns about police investigating other officers after discovering in a hearing that a whistleblower was given a gift of dog food at a Christmas party. The whistleblower, who had filed a complaint against a colleague, called the incident "extremely distressing."
Greek Shipping Company Fined Millions for Dumping Oil Off US Shores
A whistleblower's cell phone photos, as well as a note slipped by a crewman to customs officials, have exposed how a ship used a 103-foot hose (dubbed the "magic hose") to bypass a waste storage system and dump 6,000 gallons of waste oil directly into the ocean. The Greek company that owns the vessel has been fined more than four million dollars, with $750,000 designated for projects that help protect the Chesapeake Bay.
Tennessean.com: TVA Nuclear Plant Whistleblower Incident Followed By Changes
The Shaw Group, a company contracted to work at a Tennessee nuclear plant, is challenging a Labor Department's decision that the Group retaliated against a whistleblower who exposed serious safety risks within the plant. The whistleblower was fired two days after he reported problems of substandard paint coatings in sections of the plant's cooling system to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Shaw Group has settled separately with the NRC to make changes to its process of responding to safety concerns.
Lindsay Bigda is Communications Fellow for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.
