Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Playing Chicken on Food Safety?
Summary: More coverage on the concerns regarding USDA's plan to speed up poultry production lines and replace most government inspectors with plant workers – changes already in place under a controversial pilot program known as HIMP. Critics (including USDA inspector whistleblowers who reported concerns to GAP) say the agency allowed the pilot plants to rearrange production lines in a way that prevented inspectors from writing citations for fecal contamination.
Key Quote: "So all those [citations] that were getting written up early on under the [pilot] program because inspectors were finding a lot of fecal, all of a sudden, they all go away," [Felicia] Nestor said. She is the food-safety consultant to the Government Accountability Project, a Washington group that supports government and corporate whistleblowers.
Globe and Mail (Canada): Quebec Whistleblower Could Change Election Trajectory
Summary: A former Montreal, Quebec police chief and corruption whistleblower is running for office in the province. The whistleblower-turned-candidate was hired in 2010 by the provincial government to investigate corruption in the construction industry and gave the report to the media last fall, feeling that it was being ignored by politicians. The election will be held September 4.
Related Articles: The Canadian Press, Toronto Star
Summary: A former Morgan Stanley risk officer has filed suit against the company, alleging he was fired after telling his supervisors that illegal trades needed to be reported to the securities regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. According to the whistleblower, his supervisors told him repeatedly not to report or investigate the illegal trades.
Court: Food Processors Behind 'Corn Sugar' Can't Escape Liability
Summary: A federal judge ruled last week that members of the Corn Refiners Association must defend false advertising charges regarding the use of 'corn sugar' to describe high fructose corn syrup. GAP's Food Integrity Campaign explains.
The New Times (Rwanda): Ombudsman Welcomes Whistleblower Bill
Summary: The Rwandan Ombudsman is in full support of a recently-approved whistleblower bill that would allow people to make disclosures about wrongdoing and corruption without retaliation.
Summary: Gulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corp., a petroleum recycling company, is one of the largest polluters in Texas. State environmental agency investigations, as well as whistleblowers, have shown the company to be consistently flouting pollution guidelines, often at the risk of employee safety.
