- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/your-food-shouldn-t-hospitalize-you.html
- http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49371449#49371449
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/fda-food-regulation_n_1955074.html
- http://topics.bloomberg.com/food-poisoning-and-safety/
Provide names of other journalists involved.
There was additional reporting by Leslie Patton in Chicago, Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen in Hanoi, William Bi in Beijing, Karen Gullo in San Francisco and Fred Pals in Amsterdam.
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
November 2012 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine.
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
In some cases, these private inspectors have financial ties to executives at companies they’re reviewing. AIB International, a Manhattan, Kan., inspection company that awarded top safety marks to producers who sold toxic food, has had board members who are top managers at clients including the maker of Wonder Bread, Tastykake, Entenmann’s pastries and Sara Lee baked goods.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The reporters made 23 FOIA and state public records act requests for food safety and health records from the FDA, the CDC and the USDA, as well as state agencies. Using civil court records, the reporters obtained four private audit reports and three audit certificates. (These private inspections are never publicly filed and the FDA has no jurisdiction to request or see the reports.)
Explain types of human sources used.
The reporters interviewed more than 100 people who were sickened by food and scores of family members of people killed by toxic food. They also interviewed executives of Wal-Mart, Costco and other major food retailers. Reporters also went to farms in China, Mexico, the U.S. and Vietnam to document dangerous food production conditions at locations that were certified as safe by private inspection companies paid by the farms.
Results:
The American National Standards Institute, a group that oversees private auditors on behalf of major food companies including Wal-Mart, ConAgra Kraft Foods and 23 other major producers, said it would open an investigation into the potential conflicts of interest at private food inspection companies. A retail chain in the southwest U.S. said it would stop buying tomatoes for its 250 supermarkets from a company in Mexico called Agricola Pauher after the story showed that farm workers used a field as their bathroom and wiped their hands on their pants because they had no paper or soap.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There have been no complaints from anyone and no corrections.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Challenge assumptions. Most Americans, including the reporters before starting this story, assumed that food inspections in the U.S. were done by federal agencies. While we were aware that food industry groups were supporting private inspections and there were for-hire auditors, we didn’t learn until we did reporting and obtained records that the food industry has largely taken over the food inspection role. And we didn’t know about the conflicts of interest with the for-hire inspection companies. Be persistent in seeking answers.