An Avoidable Death: Why We Need Strong Food-Safety Standards
The following is a transcript of the video.
Paul F. Schwarz, Independence, Missouri: If you're selling food in the public, you ought to do it the right way, follow the regulations, don't do any shortcuts, because that means life or death to people.
My father's name is Paul A. Schwarz, Jr. He was a great guy; he was my best friend; he was my golfing partner.
Mom and dad would share, after church, they would go to a restaurant, they would order their breakfast, they would also order a fruit cup; in the fruit cup was listeria-contaminated cantaloupe. Dad ate it, he started feeling ill, my sister took him the doctor and they said, well, it's flu.
His condition just got worse, and on December 18, 2011, he died of complications from listeriosis.
We found out that he had one of the strains of listeria from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado. They were processing the cantaloupe, trying to do it without a chlorine-based wash. They tried to cut corners, and they ended up killing 37 people by my count, and sickened 147.
All because of their lack of regulations, the lack of following common procedures in the industry, and pure negligence.
I learned that there wasn't a lot of inspections going on, I mean probably virtually none. It's just mind-boggling that you could sell food to the public and not have somebody come on your property and conduct an inspection of your, you know, a government entity.
This man gave everything for his country, and, eats a piece of cantaloupe and ends up dying.
Food safety should be paramount in our country. End of story.
It's the United States of America, we're better than that.
We're much better than that.
Related Stories
These toxic chemicals are so common in consumer products and manufacturing that they’re practically everywhere—including inside our bodies.
This Southeast Side community has helped give a voice to the environmental justice movement. Now Trump’s budget cuts threaten to silence it.
For drinking water, flood control, climate defense, habitat protection, fishing, swimming, and, of course, craft beer.
"Frontline" takes a look at dangerous pathogens in America’s favorite meat.
Let’s not forget what America looked like before we had the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Our rivers caught on fire, our air was full of smog, and it stank (literally).
The administration’s assault on our environment and health is unlike any threat we’ve ever faced.
Two brothers tell the story of how their mother died from eating peanut butter, all from a lack of food-safety inspections.
As he took odd jobs to get by, Robin Tucker’s father developed 20 fatal tumors from being exposed to asbestos, a toxic mineral that is still legal in U.S. products—including children’s toys.
The regulations that protect Americans’ health, economy, and environment now need our protection.
Industrial polluters have gone to great lengths to stifle environmental advocacy, but their expansion of censorship laws has finally crossed a line for some federal judges.