Civil Law

Leadership, accountability and the toxic baby food crisis

— OPINION —

The toxic baby food crisis is not just a failure in public health. It is a defining moral challenge for an industry entrusted with the most sacred responsibility: nourishing our children.

For years, warnings about heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and cadmium, coupled with pathogens such as Cronobacter sakazakii, have sounded loudly, only to be met with insufficient action. The public’s trust has been steadily undermined by corporate inertia and regulatory gaps that prioritize short-term profits over long-term … Read the rest

Civil Law

Government Accountability Office finds problems with FDA inspection rates

In response to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the FDA says the biggest stumbling block to conducting inspections of food facilities is understaffing.

The Food and Drug Administration hasn’t met targets for inspections of domestic and foreign food facilities since 2018, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The FDA is responsible for 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, including domestic and imported food.

The FDA conducted thousands of routine surveillance food safety inspections of domestic and … Read the rest

Civil Law

Remembering Kevin: There was no accountability

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by The Ohio State University and is republished here with permission. The author is Barbara Kowalcyk, Kevin’s mother.

Kevin came into our lives early in the morning on December 10, 1998. Our second child – our first son – immediately captured our hearts, and soon showed us just how strong he was. Only hours old when he began struggling to breathe and maintain his temperature, Kevin was rushed to intensive care. Determined to … Read the rest