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Advertise your product or brand here
contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today
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You know, we're told to eat healthy,
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to sort of shop the perimeters
of the grocery stores,
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00:00:24,941 --> 00:00:27,193
but I think what a lot
of people don't realize
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is... this also may be the riskiest areas.
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You know, when I look around,
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I probably see 10, 15 different items.
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The product's been contaminated,
or I sued companies on behalf of victims.
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I've litigated plenty of cases
of romaine lettuce.
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Cut fruit, you know, countless outbreaks.
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Cut cantaloupe.
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Strawberries.
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Caramel apples.
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Tomatoes. Onions. Cookie dough.
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The Similac infant formula.
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Lucky Charms.
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Chicken, you know, all these products
are likely contaminated.
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It starts to feel, though, like nothing
is safe, and you can't eat. Right?
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Yeah, I mean, you know, the industry,
they send us these mixed messages.
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They want us to buy their product,
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but they ultimately don't want
to be responsible... for what they produce.
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Until I show up.
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We have by far the safest food supply
in the entire world.
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The safest food supply
in the world.
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Let's remember one thing,
we have the safest food supply
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in the world right here in the US.
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The FDA is investigating
a hepatitis A outbreak,
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possibly linked
to organic fresh strawberries.
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A multistate salmonella outbreak.
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00:02:01,913 --> 00:02:05,667
Health experts believe it is linked
to some Jif peanut butter products.
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00:02:05,750 --> 00:02:08,378
The recalls come
after at least two infant deaths
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and several illnesses
were potentially tied to formula.
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A variety of brands
of raw cake mix have infected 16 people,
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one of which
developed a type of kidney failure.
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We talk about our food supply
being the safest in the world,
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and I believe it is.
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People reported getting sick,
being hospitalized for liver dysfunction,
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and even having their gallbladders removed
in some cases.
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One in four pieces of raw chicken
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is contaminated with salmonella.
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The CDC announced
another E. coli outbreak
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is impacting romaine lettuce.
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We have the safest food supply
in the world.
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Melons from a Colorado farm
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are contaminated
with what is called "listeria."
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Every four minutes,
someone is rushed to the hospital
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because the food they ate made them sick.
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We must continue to have
the safest food supply in the world.
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Safest food in the world.
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Safest food supply in the world.
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Safest food supply.
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Safest food supply in the world.
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We have the best, most efficient,
safest food supply in the entire world.
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By golly, we need to keep it that way.
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Now, live at 11 o'clock.
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The warning tonight from health officials
here in the Northwest.
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They say you should be on the lookout
for a life-threatening illness
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that's cropping up in our area.
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Forty-five people are...
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I actually remember this
like it was yesterday.
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There was an E. coli outbreak
in the state of Washington
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linked to something unknown.
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The whole problem started
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when a pediatric infectious-disease
specialist called me and said,
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"I've got 11 people who I've seen
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in about 30 hours with E. coli O157."
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I've never seen anything like this before.
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And that was a big red light for me
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that something bad was going on.
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Seven new cases
of E. coli poisoning were confirmed...
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...E. coli patients remain hospitalized.
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00:04:18,007 --> 00:04:20,969
There are 21 kids
in Western Washington hospitals.
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00:04:21,052 --> 00:04:24,430
Some experts say
it's all about to get worse.
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We had no idea that it would be
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the largest foodborne outbreak
in the United States.
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I had just transferred
from active duty.
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I was a nuclear engineer
on a submarine in the Navy.
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I had a wife.
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I had a nine-year-old son
and a 16-month-old son at the time.
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There had already been some news...
Some rumblings about an E. coli outbreak.
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But it didn't mean anything to me.
I never heard of E. coli.
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"What's the worst that could happen?"
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E. coli poisoning is a fairly new illness.
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Not much is known about why the bacteria
causes some people to get so sick.
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00:05:04,595 --> 00:05:07,890
Mr. Kobayashi, can you tell us, uh,
the concern seems to be with secondary...
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00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:12,687
A big part of the outbreak
was explaining what E. coli O157 was.
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I felt like I was, uh, Tony Fauci
for a couple of weeks.
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The average incubation period for most,
uh, people is three to four days.
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The problem is that it can take up to
nine days before a person becomes ill.
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The mainstay of disease prevention,
uh, for this type of illness
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is thorough washing of hands,
uh, either when...
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E. coli is a general category of bacteria,
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and they're natural inhabitants
of everybody's intestines.
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There are
many, many different kinds of E. coli.
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Most don't do any harm at all.
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But there are certain ones,
like E. coli O157,
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that can make you real sick.
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Within a couple of days,
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it became clear that it was linked
to Jack in the Box undercooked hamburgers.
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More than 150 people have become ill
after eating tainted hamburger meat
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at Jack in the Box restaurants
in Idaho and Washington State.
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One child has died.
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So one of the big problems
with E. coli O157
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is they produce
what's called a Shiga toxin.
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They get into the gut
and then start pumping out this toxin,
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and that toxin gets into the blood,
and that will kill blood cells,
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and then those lysed blood cells end up
causing organ failure,
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the kidneys to shut down.
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And that's how kids die.
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There are now more than 312 cases
in our state alone.
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And today there was another death.
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So when the Jack in the Box case hit,
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I was my fourth year out of law school.
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I was 34 years old.
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I got a phone call
from a former client of mine
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00:07:02,213 --> 00:07:06,426
who had a friend whose daughter,
Brianne Kiner, was in the hospital.
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00:07:08,177 --> 00:07:10,263
They asked me to go meet with them.
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She'd been hospitalized for, you know,
four and a half, five months by then.
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There's so many mechanical things going on
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and wires going into her
and tubes going into her.
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And I walked out of the room.
I was crying.
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Because it was just really difficult,
you know?
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It's difficult even today
to think about, you know,
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Brianne in that situation.
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You know, she was... she was so vulnerable.
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And she just ate a freakin' hamburger.
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The board of directors of Jack in the Box
is ordering a full investigation
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00:07:45,131 --> 00:07:46,674
into the deadly mistake.
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00:07:47,175 --> 00:07:49,510
The investigators
and the health department,
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00:07:50,428 --> 00:07:53,806
they were able to determine
that my kid got sick from this other kid
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at the daycare center.
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Children's Hospital
is treating 18 children this evening,
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00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,023
four of whom got E. coli
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00:08:02,106 --> 00:08:04,609
not from hamburgers but from someone else,
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a secondary infection.
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00:08:09,238 --> 00:08:11,949
All of a sudden,
there were two new doctors that came in.
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00:08:12,450 --> 00:08:14,702
They announced that they believed
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he had developed
what's called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
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Which essentially is,
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when it gets so bad,
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the E. coli basically was eating him away
from the inside.
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That it was one organ after another.
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I remember saving newspaper clippings,
thinking someday I'll be able to
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communicate with my son and tell him how...
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how brave he was
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00:08:42,897 --> 00:08:45,775
and how proud I was of him.
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I'd like to introduce
Vicki and Darin Detwiler,
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whose 16-month-old son remains
in critical condition
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at Tacoma's Mary Bridge Hospital.
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My question to you now is,
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what are you prepared to do
in regards to the tainted-meat problem?
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First of all, we've got to make it clear
to people who are providing fast food
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that they've got to do everything they can
to comply with our cooking regulations...
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The regulation in the United States
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was that hamburger should be cooked
to at least 140 degrees.
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In Washington State,
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we had changed that law
to 155 degrees because we noticed
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that many of the people with O157
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had eaten poorly cooked hamburger.
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There's been lots
of attention on this story,
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00:09:37,743 --> 00:09:40,246
but I think there is still some confusion.
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Was it undercooking or contaminated beef
that caused the problem?
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00:09:44,292 --> 00:09:49,630
Barry, I think that some of that confusion
has been probably from industry statements
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trying to avoid some of the blame
for this. The answer is both.
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The company was not following
the procedure
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00:09:57,805 --> 00:10:00,933
that was required
by the state of Washington,
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00:10:01,017 --> 00:10:03,227
which the company said
they didn't know anything about.
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00:10:04,061 --> 00:10:05,701
Do you believe, in retrospect,
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00:10:05,730 --> 00:10:09,567
that Jack in the Box chose not to pay
attention to certain things, like the law?
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00:10:10,651 --> 00:10:12,570
No, I don't believe that at all.
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00:10:12,653 --> 00:10:16,282
We would never
choose not to pay attention to the law.
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00:10:17,199 --> 00:10:20,620
Why... why would a company choose
not to pay attention to the law?
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00:10:24,790 --> 00:10:30,296
During discovery, they dumped on me
about a million pages of documents.
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00:10:31,047 --> 00:10:35,801
I am pretty confident that they thought
that I wouldn't go through them,
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00:10:35,885 --> 00:10:39,013
but we started finding things
that were really interesting.
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An employee of Jack in the Box
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sent a letter in the suggestion box
to corporate headquarters saying,
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"Hey, we're undercooking our hamburgers,
and we're having customer complaints."
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00:10:51,567 --> 00:10:55,196
And then you could see
the real paper trail.
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00:10:55,821 --> 00:10:59,325
Not only did they receive
the new regulations
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00:10:59,408 --> 00:11:01,994
from the state of Washington
for increased cook times
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00:11:02,787 --> 00:11:05,539
but that they actually thought about it
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00:11:05,623 --> 00:11:08,793
and made the decision
to essentially ignore it.
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00:11:13,839 --> 00:11:15,257
Once I had that,
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00:11:16,842 --> 00:11:21,764
I called up the lawyer for Jack in the Box
and said, you know, "You're done."
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00:11:21,847 --> 00:11:25,851
Jack in the Box now admits
it misplaced a Washington State advisory
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00:11:25,935 --> 00:11:29,897
directing that all hamburgers
must be cooked at 155 degrees.
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00:11:29,980 --> 00:11:32,483
Jack in the Box
says it found the advisory when...
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00:11:32,566 --> 00:11:36,028
As a parent, you try to protect your kids.
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00:11:36,112 --> 00:11:40,533
And then something that's invisible
comes along that you don't know about,
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00:11:40,616 --> 00:11:42,785
that you've never even heard of.
192
00:11:45,246 --> 00:11:46,872
It's so devastating.
193
00:11:48,249 --> 00:11:51,919
Doctor says,
"You're gonna ask about second opinion
194
00:11:52,002 --> 00:11:56,716
and third opinion, but there's zero chance
of recovery at this point."
195
00:11:57,425 --> 00:12:01,178
That, uh, "There's been
so much organ damage,
196
00:12:01,262 --> 00:12:05,182
and we're not able
to get enough oxygen into him
197
00:12:05,266 --> 00:12:08,561
and that the amount of brain damage
at this point,
198
00:12:08,644 --> 00:12:11,105
keeping him on life support any longer
199
00:12:12,565 --> 00:12:15,234
would be... abusive."
200
00:12:15,818 --> 00:12:17,153
Um...
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00:12:17,236 --> 00:12:19,822
"It's just...
it's not going to do anything."
202
00:12:21,323 --> 00:12:25,453
I asked them to take everything off
so I could hold him for a little while.
203
00:12:26,495 --> 00:12:30,583
And I actually had to get Dr. Crane
to come and... and check
204
00:12:30,666 --> 00:12:33,961
because somehow I kept thinking
that if I just held him close enough,
205
00:12:34,044 --> 00:12:37,465
that his heart would keep on beating
and that he'd keep on breathing.
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00:12:43,095 --> 00:12:44,638
Four children died.
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00:12:45,181 --> 00:12:46,891
I mean, can you imagine?
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00:12:46,974 --> 00:12:50,644
They died from a hamburger
at Jack in the Box.
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00:12:51,312 --> 00:12:56,025
If you're the parent of one of those kids,
this is beyond your comprehension.
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00:12:56,108 --> 00:13:01,655
And I have to say
that E. coli O157 deaths are pretty awful.
211
00:13:02,198 --> 00:13:03,866
They're not nice deaths.
212
00:13:08,412 --> 00:13:12,500
Jack in the Box lawyers met
with us and offered us a settlement
213
00:13:12,583 --> 00:13:16,045
that included essentially a gag order
that we could never talk about it.
214
00:13:16,128 --> 00:13:17,713
And I had already made the decision
215
00:13:17,797 --> 00:13:20,591
that there's no way I was gonna keep quiet
for the rest of my life
216
00:13:20,674 --> 00:13:23,177
about what was the cause
of my son's death.
217
00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:25,513
I couldn't handle the idea
of not doing anything,
218
00:13:25,596 --> 00:13:27,681
even if that meant
that I needed to change careers.
219
00:13:27,765 --> 00:13:30,226
I am a professor and assistant dean
220
00:13:30,309 --> 00:13:33,854
focused on regulatory affairs
of food and food industries...
221
00:13:33,938 --> 00:13:36,982
I teach about food safety
and food policy as a professor.
222
00:13:37,066 --> 00:13:38,400
I teach grad students.
223
00:13:38,484 --> 00:13:44,281
I had to try to do something to prevent
others from being in the same situation.
224
00:13:44,990 --> 00:13:45,991
Good evening, everyone.
225
00:13:46,075 --> 00:13:49,453
It's the largest personal injury
settlement ever in our state.
226
00:13:49,537 --> 00:13:52,057
It looks like the parent company
for Jack in the Box restaurants
227
00:13:52,081 --> 00:13:55,292
will have to pay millions of dollars
for serving undercooked hamburgers.
228
00:13:55,376 --> 00:13:58,379
Settlement is expected to cost
Jack in the Box at least $10 million.
229
00:13:58,462 --> 00:13:59,839
$4.4 million.
230
00:13:59,922 --> 00:14:01,966
$15.6 million.
231
00:14:02,049 --> 00:14:07,847
We're very confident that, uh,
that money will be sufficient
232
00:14:07,930 --> 00:14:11,267
to care for Brianne over the course
of her life, however...
233
00:14:11,350 --> 00:14:14,478
Bill Marler not only became
the most important attorney
234
00:14:14,562 --> 00:14:17,690
in terms of handling lawsuits
against the companies
235
00:14:17,773 --> 00:14:19,900
that are responsible for those outbreaks,
236
00:14:19,984 --> 00:14:22,736
but he's also become
a much larger advocate.
237
00:14:22,820 --> 00:14:25,531
I'm tired of visiting
with horribly sick kids
238
00:14:25,614 --> 00:14:27,825
who did not have to be sick
in the first place.
239
00:14:27,908 --> 00:14:28,826
I am outraged...
240
00:14:28,909 --> 00:14:31,203
He has become one of the dominant voices
241
00:14:31,287 --> 00:14:33,205
in food safety reform
in the United States,
242
00:14:33,289 --> 00:14:35,541
having started out
as a plaintiff's attorney.
243
00:14:36,834 --> 00:14:40,796
Specific to Jack in the Box,
how did the burgers get contaminated?
244
00:14:41,297 --> 00:14:44,174
So, we don't know exactly
245
00:14:44,258 --> 00:14:48,554
how the Jack in the Box hamburger
got contaminated,
246
00:14:48,637 --> 00:14:51,724
but, you know,
generally, we know how it happens.
247
00:14:54,143 --> 00:14:56,979
It's usually in the slaughter facility.
248
00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:01,609
It's, uh, nicking of a gut
of a cow during slaughter.
249
00:15:03,611 --> 00:15:08,532
But the whole meat industry was premised
on the fact that the slaughterhouses
250
00:15:08,616 --> 00:15:13,704
and the beef packers could essentially do
whatever they wanted to do.
251
00:15:15,581 --> 00:15:18,125
And it was up to consumers
252
00:15:19,752 --> 00:15:22,963
to cook the E. coli out of the product.
253
00:15:27,509 --> 00:15:31,805
If you buy a piece of steak,
that's a piece of meat from one animal.
254
00:15:32,765 --> 00:15:36,769
If there is E. coli, it's on the outside.
It's not in the middle.
255
00:15:36,852 --> 00:15:39,855
So searing the steak would help kill that.
256
00:15:41,482 --> 00:15:44,985
The problem is that
when you buy ground beef,
257
00:15:45,069 --> 00:15:48,489
you now take the outsides,
and they're part of the insides.
258
00:15:52,826 --> 00:15:55,037
Not only are you bringing
all the animals together
259
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:56,872
and slaughtering them
in the same facility,
260
00:15:56,956 --> 00:15:59,541
now you're taking chunks
of multiple animals,
261
00:15:59,625 --> 00:16:02,044
and you're grinding them up
into one big mess.
262
00:16:04,004 --> 00:16:08,717
Hamburger, sometimes,
is the result of mixing meat
263
00:16:08,801 --> 00:16:11,804
from as many as 400 animals.
264
00:16:11,887 --> 00:16:14,640
Kind of awful to think about.
265
00:16:14,723 --> 00:16:18,936
If one of those animals
has this toxic form of E. coli,
266
00:16:19,019 --> 00:16:20,187
you're in trouble.
267
00:16:23,983 --> 00:16:26,360
In the aftermath
of Jack in the Box,
268
00:16:26,443 --> 00:16:30,572
you know,
people from USDA met with victims,
269
00:16:30,656 --> 00:16:33,534
and, you know, the Clinton Administration,
to their credit,
270
00:16:33,617 --> 00:16:36,578
brought in people
who were pretty activist.
271
00:16:36,662 --> 00:16:37,705
Mike?
272
00:16:37,788 --> 00:16:39,999
You know, Mike Taylor being one.
273
00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:42,710
We intend to reduce
the risk of foodborne illness
274
00:16:42,793 --> 00:16:45,713
associated with the consumption
of meat and poultry products
275
00:16:45,796 --> 00:16:48,090
to the maximum extent possible.
276
00:16:48,173 --> 00:16:49,216
Thank you.
277
00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:54,596
The official policy of the USDA was
278
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,851
that this is not the responsibility
of the regulatory system or the industry.
279
00:16:58,934 --> 00:17:01,145
Consumers are expected
to cook these products
280
00:17:01,228 --> 00:17:02,730
and make them safe themselves.
281
00:17:02,813 --> 00:17:05,816
The bottom line
is that raw meat contains bacteria.
282
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,527
And proper cooking kills bacteria.
283
00:17:09,570 --> 00:17:11,050
To mothers that lost children,
284
00:17:11,113 --> 00:17:14,491
to people whose families
had been harmed by this outbreak,
285
00:17:14,575 --> 00:17:18,287
that was, uh, a shocking
and highly unacceptable revelation.
286
00:17:21,457 --> 00:17:25,711
We simply had to take action immediately
to try to change the dynamic.
287
00:17:25,794 --> 00:17:29,631
And so I did make the decision
that we would declare
288
00:17:29,715 --> 00:17:32,134
O157:H7 to be an adulterant,
289
00:17:32,217 --> 00:17:35,429
and raw ground beef in the marketplace
would be deemed illegal,
290
00:17:35,512 --> 00:17:39,016
and USDA could take action
to remove it quickly from the market.
291
00:17:39,725 --> 00:17:41,268
That was a big game changer.
292
00:17:41,351 --> 00:17:43,604
It meant that it can't be in the meat.
293
00:17:43,687 --> 00:17:47,066
If it was in the meat,
you had to pull it off the marketplace.
294
00:17:50,986 --> 00:17:54,490
You know, the rates that you see today
are very minimal,
295
00:17:54,573 --> 00:17:58,786
and you rarely see an E. coli outbreak
involving ground beef,
296
00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:04,249
so it's a strong argument of just how much
those reforms had an impact.
297
00:18:08,504 --> 00:18:09,838
Thirty years ago,
298
00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:14,009
all the work that I did
was E. coli cases linked to hamburger.
299
00:18:14,093 --> 00:18:16,512
Today, that's zero.
300
00:18:16,595 --> 00:18:18,722
I mean, it's a success story.
301
00:18:27,481 --> 00:18:30,234
It used to be the biggest E. coli threat
was from hamburgers.
302
00:18:30,317 --> 00:18:33,445
So you'd think, "Okay, as long as
I don't eat hamburgers, I'm okay."
303
00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:36,198
And the CDC with a warning this afternoon
304
00:18:36,281 --> 00:18:39,076
about an E. coli outbreak
linked to baby spinach.
305
00:18:39,159 --> 00:18:41,245
Health officials are warning consumers
306
00:18:41,328 --> 00:18:44,748
to not eat
Josie's Organics organic baby spinach.
307
00:18:44,832 --> 00:18:49,253
Several cases of E. coli
linked to organic power greens.
308
00:18:49,336 --> 00:18:52,005
And now E. coli is
309
00:18:52,089 --> 00:18:56,468
by far, uh, caused by lettuce
more than ground beef.
310
00:18:56,552 --> 00:18:58,679
When you eat a hamburger,
311
00:18:58,762 --> 00:19:02,599
the most dangerous part of that
is not the burger.
312
00:19:02,683 --> 00:19:06,687
It's going to be the onion,
lettuce, and the tomatoes.
313
00:19:12,234 --> 00:19:16,530
You know, I've had bad potato salad
or something that was, you know...
314
00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:18,323
Just food poisoning
315
00:19:18,407 --> 00:19:22,286
was my idea
of what a foodborne illness is.
316
00:19:25,455 --> 00:19:28,709
Stephanie came to me,
um, the morning we were leaving
317
00:19:28,792 --> 00:19:32,379
and just said, you know,
that she was feeling a little...
318
00:19:32,462 --> 00:19:36,216
Having some gas
and, you know, a little bit of diarrhea.
319
00:19:36,300 --> 00:19:40,888
But she just thought she was nervous,
and we didn't think anything of it at all.
320
00:19:40,971 --> 00:19:42,890
One, two, three.
321
00:19:45,726 --> 00:19:47,019
Ladies and gentlemen,
322
00:19:47,102 --> 00:19:49,605
let me be the first
to welcome you to Punta Cana.
323
00:19:49,688 --> 00:19:52,149
When we got
to the Dominican Republic,
324
00:19:52,232 --> 00:19:54,026
and we were at the resort,
325
00:19:55,611 --> 00:19:58,697
she felt like she was feeling
a little bit better.
326
00:19:58,780 --> 00:20:00,073
She took a shower.
327
00:20:00,908 --> 00:20:04,411
But throughout the night, it progressed,
getting worse and worse,
328
00:20:04,494 --> 00:20:07,956
and that's when I realized
we needed to get some help.
329
00:20:11,335 --> 00:20:16,757
It was an absolute nightmare
of tests and doctors.
330
00:20:17,466 --> 00:20:21,470
They kept telling us, "She'll be better.
We'll give her these antibiotics."
331
00:20:21,553 --> 00:20:25,140
"She has this kind of bug.
She'll be back at the resort tomorrow."
332
00:20:26,642 --> 00:20:28,602
And then the next morning,
333
00:20:28,685 --> 00:20:30,896
when they let me go in to see her,
334
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,065
she didn't recognize me.
335
00:20:33,148 --> 00:20:35,943
She was... she was pulling at her hair.
336
00:20:38,195 --> 00:20:40,072
I'm like, "She's having a seizure."
337
00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:45,827
Her kidneys had stopped functioning,
and she was having swelling of her brain.
338
00:20:45,911 --> 00:20:48,705
They made me leave,
and they all rushed in,
339
00:20:48,789 --> 00:20:52,167
and it was just like
from a bad...
340
00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:53,460
A nightmare.
341
00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:54,795
Uh, the whole thing.
342
00:20:54,878 --> 00:20:57,089
The doctor pulled Candie aside
in a hallway
343
00:20:57,172 --> 00:20:59,675
and said, you know,
"You got to get her out of here."
344
00:21:02,594 --> 00:21:04,805
I immediately went home and contacted,
345
00:21:04,888 --> 00:21:08,517
you know, over a dozen,
uh, medevac, uh, operations
346
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:10,727
and found one
that was gonna get her out immediately.
347
00:21:14,022 --> 00:21:15,941
It was then that next morning
348
00:21:16,024 --> 00:21:19,820
that they found the Shiga toxins
in her system
349
00:21:19,903 --> 00:21:22,823
to be able to say
it was definitely from E. coli.
350
00:21:22,906 --> 00:21:24,968
They said, "She might not make it
through the night."
351
00:21:24,992 --> 00:21:26,827
"Get your son back from San Francisco."
352
00:21:27,953 --> 00:21:31,123
A priest was there within a couple hours
to give her last rites.
353
00:21:33,542 --> 00:21:37,087
Stephanie's condition
rapidly deteriorated overnight
354
00:21:37,170 --> 00:21:39,006
in a very critical condition.
355
00:21:39,089 --> 00:21:41,633
I think she had
a few more hours to live, unfortunately.
356
00:21:42,759 --> 00:21:46,888
It is a very scary, uh, situation
where you have a perfectly healthy,
357
00:21:46,972 --> 00:21:51,226
athletic 17-year-old female
that goes on spring break,
358
00:21:52,227 --> 00:21:54,688
and 48 hours later, she's dying.
359
00:21:56,982 --> 00:21:59,234
Stephanie had
an infectious disease doctor
360
00:21:59,318 --> 00:22:02,112
who had us, I mean,
basically, "Collect what you can."
361
00:22:02,195 --> 00:22:03,363
"Talk to all her friends."
362
00:22:03,447 --> 00:22:06,074
"Go through her bank statements
to find out what she ate."
363
00:22:06,158 --> 00:22:10,871
'Cause we're thinking whatever she...
This may play a role in saving her life.
364
00:22:10,954 --> 00:22:12,122
So we were thorough,
365
00:22:12,205 --> 00:22:14,499
thorough to find out everything,
you know, she ate
366
00:22:14,583 --> 00:22:16,668
over the, you know, previous week or two.
367
00:22:17,794 --> 00:22:21,923
Her friend who she ate at Panera with
sent us a snapshot...
368
00:22:23,133 --> 00:22:23,967
...of a sign.
369
00:22:24,051 --> 00:22:27,387
It wasn't until then that we put
two and two together. "Romaine lettuce?"
370
00:22:28,930 --> 00:22:31,242
Dozens of people
have ended up in the hospital
371
00:22:31,266 --> 00:22:33,060
with possible cases of E. coli.
372
00:22:33,143 --> 00:22:35,896
Ninety-eight people
from 22 different states,
373
00:22:35,979 --> 00:22:40,442
making this the biggest multistate
E. coli outbreak in at least 12 years.
374
00:22:40,525 --> 00:22:43,695
The affected region is Yuma, Arizona.
375
00:22:46,656 --> 00:22:49,016
Most of the lettuce
that we eat in the United States
376
00:22:49,076 --> 00:22:50,452
comes from two places.
377
00:22:51,370 --> 00:22:56,124
It comes from California's Central Valley,
and it comes from Yuma, Arizona.
378
00:22:58,168 --> 00:23:02,756
The US is one of the top producers
and exporters of leafy greens.
379
00:23:02,839 --> 00:23:06,802
So that means that the lettuce grown
in Yuma and in Salinas
380
00:23:06,885 --> 00:23:08,678
is shipped all over the world.
381
00:23:10,389 --> 00:23:12,474
We're in a global food system
382
00:23:12,557 --> 00:23:15,560
where we're importing
and exporting food all over the place.
383
00:23:15,644 --> 00:23:19,606
So problems that occur here
can certainly be exported elsewhere.
384
00:23:19,689 --> 00:23:22,734
Bacteria don't care about borders.
385
00:23:22,818 --> 00:23:25,487
They don't care about import
and export restrictions.
386
00:23:27,948 --> 00:23:29,658
Consumers don't cook lettuce.
387
00:23:29,741 --> 00:23:33,036
There's no way to control that risk
in our kitchen. We eat it fresh.
388
00:23:33,995 --> 00:23:35,789
So there's no kill step.
389
00:23:35,872 --> 00:23:39,042
You can clean it,
but you're still not truly killing.
390
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:45,882
And "organic" only means
that it uses less chemicals, pesticides.
391
00:23:46,675 --> 00:23:49,636
Organic simply doesn't mean pathogen-free.
392
00:23:52,764 --> 00:23:56,768
Explain how we get E. coli in greens.
393
00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:59,396
Right. So it's actually not
the lettuce's fault.
394
00:23:59,479 --> 00:24:02,274
- That's right. It really isn't.
- It's the livestock.
395
00:24:13,034 --> 00:24:16,079
How we raise animals
can fuel the growth of these bugs.
396
00:24:16,163 --> 00:24:18,331
So if we crowd the animals together,
397
00:24:18,415 --> 00:24:22,794
and you have one that's carrying
a really bad pathogen like E. coli O157,
398
00:24:22,878 --> 00:24:26,131
then they can poop those bacteria out.
399
00:24:27,007 --> 00:24:31,136
And then,
the shit from the cattle washes off
400
00:24:31,219 --> 00:24:34,514
into the streams or into canals,
irrigation canals,
401
00:24:35,307 --> 00:24:38,477
and then those can be used
to water these plants.
402
00:24:39,769 --> 00:24:41,730
You have this distribution system
403
00:24:41,813 --> 00:24:44,900
for these pathogens
from animals to produce.
404
00:24:50,447 --> 00:24:54,034
The regulation
of animal waste is minimal.
405
00:24:55,494 --> 00:24:59,372
We have laws on the books,
but they're not enforced.
406
00:24:59,998 --> 00:25:02,292
That is an American scandal.
407
00:25:13,553 --> 00:25:18,642
What got Stephanie sick was
romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona,
408
00:25:19,226 --> 00:25:21,978
specifically in the Wellton Canal area,
409
00:25:22,687 --> 00:25:26,233
which happens to run right past
the concentrated feedlots.
410
00:25:37,786 --> 00:25:39,871
Those are land-use issues that,
411
00:25:39,955 --> 00:25:46,503
I think, are the things that FDA, USDA,
the federal government, state governments,
412
00:25:46,586 --> 00:25:48,880
Environmental Protection Agency,
413
00:25:48,964 --> 00:25:52,592
all of those entities haven't kind of come
to grips with that yet.
414
00:25:57,889 --> 00:26:00,976
There are 15 federal agencies
that in one form or another,
415
00:26:01,059 --> 00:26:03,436
are tasked with food safety regulation.
416
00:26:04,563 --> 00:26:07,107
The USDA primarily deals with meat.
417
00:26:07,190 --> 00:26:10,110
They were at the helm
of the Jack in the Box E. coli case.
418
00:26:10,193 --> 00:26:14,072
And the FDA deals with leafy greens,
like romaine and spinach.
419
00:26:20,370 --> 00:26:22,372
- Go ahead.
- Nice to meet you.
420
00:26:22,455 --> 00:26:24,684
- Do you care which side? You pick.
- No. I don't.
421
00:26:24,708 --> 00:26:26,209
Okay, I'll sit over here.
422
00:26:30,589 --> 00:26:32,173
Great.
423
00:26:33,425 --> 00:26:34,585
Okay, we ready?
424
00:26:37,137 --> 00:26:40,890
What falls under your jurisdiction?
What falls under your jurisdiction?
425
00:26:40,974 --> 00:26:42,475
Sure, I'll start.
426
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:49,065
USDA regulates meat and poultry products,
egg products, and catfish.
427
00:26:50,900 --> 00:26:55,155
And the FDA regulates, uh,
all foods involved in interstate commerce
428
00:26:55,238 --> 00:26:59,701
that Sandy didn't mention,
so it's about 80% of the US food system.
429
00:26:59,784 --> 00:27:03,038
It's a large responsibility
and one that we take very seriously.
430
00:27:04,456 --> 00:27:06,541
The regulatory framework
431
00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:09,336
we have in the world
of food safety is pretty complicated.
432
00:27:09,419 --> 00:27:12,672
Let's say you have a beef taco
that's made in a restaurant.
433
00:27:14,841 --> 00:27:18,678
So the beef,
well, that's a USDA-regulated food.
434
00:27:18,762 --> 00:27:23,099
Cheese and any of the pico de gallo
that's on top of that,
435
00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:25,852
those are FDA-regulated foods.
436
00:27:26,603 --> 00:27:31,358
All of the making of that taco,
well, that's happening in a restaurant
437
00:27:31,441 --> 00:27:33,610
that's regulated
by the local health department.
438
00:27:33,693 --> 00:27:36,321
So it's a really complicated process.
439
00:27:36,404 --> 00:27:38,281
There's lots of different fingers
440
00:27:38,365 --> 00:27:42,160
that can be touching regulatory
on that taco.
441
00:27:44,746 --> 00:27:47,499
When there's a foodborne illness outbreak,
442
00:27:48,458 --> 00:27:52,671
no single agency is responsible.
443
00:27:53,672 --> 00:27:55,548
So there's a lot of finger-pointing.
444
00:27:56,341 --> 00:27:59,094
Ms. Eskin, does the USDA do anything
445
00:27:59,177 --> 00:28:01,221
on these cattle operations
446
00:28:01,304 --> 00:28:05,141
to make sure animal waste
isn't getting into the irrigation water?
447
00:28:05,225 --> 00:28:11,064
We have no direct authority on any
of the production pieces of food animals...
448
00:28:11,147 --> 00:28:14,901
We are doing the best
that we can do with our authorities...
449
00:28:14,984 --> 00:28:17,612
We don't have that authority...
We do not have authority...
450
00:28:17,696 --> 00:28:19,739
Authority we have or don't have...
451
00:28:19,823 --> 00:28:22,104
Feels like a gap
in the system. Does it not?
452
00:28:22,617 --> 00:28:25,036
I think that's a question
you need to ask Congress...
453
00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:26,579
That's Congress's decision...
454
00:28:26,663 --> 00:28:29,791
The inspection process
has to be raised with Congress...
455
00:28:29,874 --> 00:28:31,000
It's not for us to say.
456
00:28:31,084 --> 00:28:33,920
It's really something
that has to come from Congress.
457
00:28:34,003 --> 00:28:36,563
To your response
that it's a question for Congress,
458
00:28:36,589 --> 00:28:40,635
would you support legislation
that gave USDA jurisdiction on the farm?
459
00:28:41,261 --> 00:28:44,889
I'm not in a position
to endorse legislation.
460
00:28:44,973 --> 00:28:48,643
As the regulatory body,
that's not our lane.
461
00:28:50,395 --> 00:28:54,774
Mr. Yiannas, what is
the FDA doing to solve the problem,
462
00:28:54,858 --> 00:28:56,860
and should consumers be satisfied?
463
00:28:56,943 --> 00:29:01,239
We believe that the FDA,
as well as the entire food industry,
464
00:29:01,322 --> 00:29:04,325
the fresh leafy green industry,
can and must do more.
465
00:29:04,409 --> 00:29:05,660
Let me stress, must do more.
466
00:29:05,744 --> 00:29:07,662
Growers have a responsibility,
467
00:29:07,746 --> 00:29:11,416
the primary responsibility
to understand whether their products
468
00:29:11,499 --> 00:29:15,211
can be contaminated
and take measures to mitigate those risks.
469
00:29:18,673 --> 00:29:22,427
My name is Tim York. T-I-M Y-O-R-K
470
00:29:23,219 --> 00:29:25,638
How should I title you for your position?
471
00:29:25,722 --> 00:29:26,973
Uh, CEO.
472
00:29:27,056 --> 00:29:28,391
- Of?
- LGMA.
473
00:29:28,892 --> 00:29:32,520
LGMA stands for
Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement.
474
00:29:32,604 --> 00:29:39,444
We were started in 2007 to, uh,
ensure safety in lettuce and leafy greens.
475
00:29:39,527 --> 00:29:42,280
What are some of
the more recognizable handlers
476
00:29:42,363 --> 00:29:45,116
that are part of the LGMA
that we might know?
477
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,579
Members of LGMA
would include Dole, Fresh Express,
478
00:29:49,662 --> 00:29:53,500
Ready Pac, Taylor Farms, uh, Organic Girl.
479
00:29:53,583 --> 00:29:57,796
Those are all names you probably see
on the retail shelf of packaged salads.
480
00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:03,551
The Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements
481
00:30:03,635 --> 00:30:06,805
were formed in response
to the 2006 spinach outbreak.
482
00:30:08,932 --> 00:30:10,683
Feds have a new warning about spinach.
483
00:30:10,767 --> 00:30:14,896
They want you to stay away from
all spinach, not just the bagged produce.
484
00:30:14,979 --> 00:30:18,107
We're talking about hundreds of bags
of raw spinach out here.
485
00:30:18,191 --> 00:30:22,153
Now, no one is eating raw spinach,
and all of it is going in the garbage.
486
00:30:24,072 --> 00:30:27,283
This is
the same deadly strain of E. coli
487
00:30:27,367 --> 00:30:29,744
that we saw
in the Jack in the Box outbreak.
488
00:30:31,663 --> 00:30:33,957
The industry was terrorized.
489
00:30:34,707 --> 00:30:38,336
They worried that if this were to occur
again and again and again,
490
00:30:38,419 --> 00:30:40,964
if they didn't get to the bottom
of this problem,
491
00:30:41,714 --> 00:30:45,468
that it would essentially destroy
the California leafy greens industry.
492
00:30:46,135 --> 00:30:48,805
The spinach outbreak of 2006
493
00:30:48,888 --> 00:30:53,601
was a watershed moment for the industry
because that was really the first time
494
00:30:54,352 --> 00:30:58,982
that we were aware
of how our practices affected people.
495
00:31:04,779 --> 00:31:06,447
How do pathogens move?
496
00:31:07,448 --> 00:31:09,284
We look at a number of things.
497
00:31:10,869 --> 00:31:12,579
One of them being water.
498
00:31:15,373 --> 00:31:18,585
One of them being proximity
to other operations.
499
00:31:20,128 --> 00:31:22,755
One of them would be
the sanitation practices
500
00:31:22,839 --> 00:31:25,758
and how they handle machinery
and equipment on the farm.
501
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:39,397
I think it's just been
really a matter
502
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,734
of the industry
sort of does a whack-a-mole.
503
00:31:43,735 --> 00:31:45,111
"Oh, we'll do testing."
504
00:31:46,112 --> 00:31:48,323
"Oh, we'll make everybody wear a hairnet."
505
00:31:51,242 --> 00:31:55,914
But they just don't want to come to grips
with the fact that the big problem is
506
00:31:55,997 --> 00:31:59,918
cattle farms and feedlots
in close proximity
507
00:32:00,001 --> 00:32:02,211
to where you're growing leafy greens.
508
00:32:05,298 --> 00:32:08,927
How often do your members
test their irrigation water?
509
00:32:11,346 --> 00:32:14,349
I don't honestly know the answer
to that question. Um...
510
00:32:15,475 --> 00:32:20,021
Irrigation water is required
to be tested on an ongoing basis
511
00:32:20,104 --> 00:32:22,941
to know that
that is meeting our practices.
512
00:32:27,654 --> 00:32:31,824
You know, some of the work
the LGMA has done has been admirable.
513
00:32:33,242 --> 00:32:34,702
But in my view,
514
00:32:35,745 --> 00:32:38,289
it's a way to make sure
that the government,
515
00:32:38,373 --> 00:32:41,542
uh, doesn't enforce rules on them
they don't really like.
516
00:32:41,626 --> 00:32:44,963
One of the ways to avoid
government regulation is to say,
517
00:32:45,046 --> 00:32:46,464
"We'll regulate ourselves."
518
00:32:47,465 --> 00:32:49,467
I honestly don't know
what action
519
00:32:49,550 --> 00:32:52,929
the government was potentially going
to take if we didn't.
520
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:55,848
But the reason the LGMA was formed is
521
00:32:55,932 --> 00:32:58,977
because we could do that
so much faster than the government.
522
00:33:03,272 --> 00:33:06,442
Who do you hold accountable
for fixing this?
523
00:33:08,152 --> 00:33:12,281
The growers don't control
the practices of the cattlemen.
524
00:33:13,449 --> 00:33:14,951
The cattlemen, you know,
525
00:33:15,034 --> 00:33:17,870
feel that they're not responsible
for produce safety.
526
00:33:18,913 --> 00:33:23,334
There's not enough impetus
for people to break out of their silos
527
00:33:23,418 --> 00:33:26,629
and say, "We've got to come up
with a solution that figures out,
528
00:33:26,713 --> 00:33:29,966
how can you use vaccines
to make this better?"
529
00:33:30,049 --> 00:33:33,928
"How can you adjust the cattle feed
to reduce the E. coli?"
530
00:33:35,013 --> 00:33:38,516
And that... you know,
my frustration is that's not happening,
531
00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:42,311
and people are getting sick,
and that's, uh... you know, that's sad.
532
00:33:42,395 --> 00:33:43,730
That's disturbing.
533
00:33:59,328 --> 00:34:02,915
In my 30 years
of experience doing this,
534
00:34:02,999 --> 00:34:08,212
most companies don't want to, obviously,
see me show up at their doorstep.
535
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,049
You know,
the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement,
536
00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:12,842
they're trying to do the right thing.
537
00:34:12,925 --> 00:34:16,596
They're just not going the full distance
that I think they should go.
538
00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:19,682
You know,
these outbreaks at Jack in the Box,
539
00:34:19,766 --> 00:34:22,060
they didn't intend that to happen,
540
00:34:22,685 --> 00:34:25,938
but I kind of put those folks
in a different category
541
00:34:26,022 --> 00:34:29,984
than I would the folks
from Peanut Corporation of America.
542
00:34:30,485 --> 00:34:33,529
Food and Drug Administration
is advising Americans not to eat
543
00:34:33,613 --> 00:34:36,032
any products made
with peanut butter or peanut paste.
544
00:34:36,115 --> 00:34:38,755
More than 500 people
have gotten sick in the outbreak,
545
00:34:38,785 --> 00:34:41,954
and at least eight may have died
as a result of salmonella infection.
546
00:34:42,580 --> 00:34:45,416
This was
an enormous salmonella outbreak.
547
00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:47,627
Officials are focusing on peanut products
548
00:34:47,710 --> 00:34:52,048
produced by this Georgia plant
owned by Peanut Corporation of America.
549
00:34:54,133 --> 00:34:58,221
The Peanut Corporation of America
was a major peanut product producer.
550
00:34:59,639 --> 00:35:02,683
They provided peanut paste
and peanut products
551
00:35:02,767 --> 00:35:07,063
to hundreds of different major brands
in the United States.
552
00:35:07,146 --> 00:35:09,357
Chips Deluxe
with peanut butter cups.
553
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,320
- Peanut butter cups? No way.
- Way.
554
00:35:13,986 --> 00:35:17,782
I started working at Peanut Corp
in July 2006.
555
00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:21,244
I could tell things were going to go bad.
556
00:35:24,872 --> 00:35:28,292
The things that had concerned me were,
number one, the roof leak.
557
00:35:28,918 --> 00:35:31,379
Because that washes in bird crap,
558
00:35:32,046 --> 00:35:35,424
which can bring in a whole host
of disease into the plant.
559
00:35:37,927 --> 00:35:42,431
And the pest control person that brought
in to my attention the mice problem.
560
00:35:43,683 --> 00:35:47,186
There are some rats,
uh, and they're still alive.
561
00:35:48,938 --> 00:35:51,482
The first time
I had brought up, uh, concerns
562
00:35:51,566 --> 00:35:53,234
to Stewart Parnell, the owner,
563
00:35:53,943 --> 00:35:56,362
he told me to shut up
and not worry about it,
564
00:35:56,445 --> 00:36:00,867
that they had recall insurance
and just go on doing my job.
565
00:36:01,659 --> 00:36:06,664
Stewart Parnell
not only grossly underestimated
566
00:36:07,456 --> 00:36:10,918
food safety as a CEO of a food company,
567
00:36:11,794 --> 00:36:15,298
but he blatantly and even flagrantly
568
00:36:16,632 --> 00:36:17,633
just didn't care.
569
00:36:18,176 --> 00:36:21,637
And here we have another live rat.
570
00:36:23,973 --> 00:36:29,353
Ultimately, what happened was
that some of the large companies
571
00:36:29,437 --> 00:36:33,900
that were getting their product
from PCA had requirements,
572
00:36:33,983 --> 00:36:37,904
contractual requirements
to test the product before it was shipped.
573
00:36:38,613 --> 00:36:42,450
And they were supposed to give
those companies a piece of paper
574
00:36:42,533 --> 00:36:46,829
called a certificate of analysis
that said the product was tested
575
00:36:46,913 --> 00:36:50,333
and it's free of pathogens
or likely free of pathogens.
576
00:36:50,416 --> 00:36:52,126
And lo and behold,
577
00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:56,380
they had a test that came out positive
for the toxic salmonella.
578
00:36:57,048 --> 00:36:59,258
Well, what they ended up doing
579
00:36:59,342 --> 00:37:02,261
was retesting
until they got a negative test.
580
00:37:03,471 --> 00:37:07,016
Then it got to the point
where all of them were positive,
581
00:37:08,267 --> 00:37:11,562
and then they just started forging
the certificates of analysis,
582
00:37:11,646 --> 00:37:13,022
saying they were negative.
583
00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:16,108
The QA manager,
584
00:37:16,192 --> 00:37:19,320
there's a reason why she has
the nickname "the Queen of Liquid Paper."
585
00:37:20,488 --> 00:37:22,782
If they didn't have
the results that they needed,
586
00:37:22,865 --> 00:37:24,617
they would literally take old results,
587
00:37:24,700 --> 00:37:27,620
Liquid Paper over the date,
and change the date
588
00:37:27,703 --> 00:37:29,580
to make it look like
it's a more recent date.
589
00:37:30,831 --> 00:37:36,545
Stewart Parnell told the manager
in an email to ship the peanut mill.
590
00:37:37,213 --> 00:37:39,090
And the manager said,
591
00:37:39,173 --> 00:37:44,470
"Well, I've got to spray off the rat shit
and dirt before I can do anything."
592
00:37:44,553 --> 00:37:47,890
Stewart said,
"Well, then clean it up and ship it."
593
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:51,602
There were lots of emails.
594
00:37:56,440 --> 00:38:00,861
And they had emails
from the heads of the company saying,
595
00:38:00,945 --> 00:38:03,447
"Oh, you've got
a positive salmonella test."
596
00:38:03,531 --> 00:38:04,615
"Ship it out anyway."
597
00:38:08,953 --> 00:38:13,165
A salmonella outbreak involving products
made with peanut butter is worsening.
598
00:38:13,249 --> 00:38:14,750
These were recalled too.
599
00:38:14,834 --> 00:38:19,005
The list of items is so long, Campbell,
I can't even read them all right now.
600
00:38:19,088 --> 00:38:22,717
It was over 3,000, almost 4,000,
601
00:38:23,217 --> 00:38:26,095
different products got recalled.
602
00:38:26,804 --> 00:38:29,932
Here we go with another pallet.
I think this is number six.
603
00:38:34,312 --> 00:38:35,396
It's still sealed.
604
00:38:35,479 --> 00:38:38,274
I emailed
the Texas Department of Agriculture,
605
00:38:38,357 --> 00:38:39,650
the FDA.
606
00:38:39,734 --> 00:38:42,069
I... I must have sent a hundred emails.
607
00:38:42,153 --> 00:38:44,572
Product recalls
continue mounting.
608
00:38:45,823 --> 00:38:48,617
Nobody else was gonna stop them
from killing people.
609
00:38:50,578 --> 00:38:52,204
So somebody had to step up.
610
00:38:53,914 --> 00:38:55,458
He went to the federal government
611
00:38:55,541 --> 00:38:58,294
and started, you know,
saying how bad the plant was.
612
00:38:58,377 --> 00:39:01,922
The White House today called
the plant's performance alarming
613
00:39:02,006 --> 00:39:05,301
and promised tougher regulation
over America's food supply.
614
00:39:05,384 --> 00:39:09,555
At bare minimum, we should be able
to count on our government
615
00:39:09,638 --> 00:39:11,974
keeping our kids safe
when they eat peanut butter.
616
00:39:12,058 --> 00:39:15,936
That's what Sasha eats for, uh...
for lunch probably three times a week.
617
00:39:17,396 --> 00:39:19,148
Mr. Parnell,
Mr. Lightsey,
618
00:39:19,231 --> 00:39:21,150
let me just cut to the chase then.
619
00:39:21,776 --> 00:39:26,238
In this container are products
that have your ingredients in them.
620
00:39:26,322 --> 00:39:29,325
I just wonder, would either of you
be willing to take the lid off
621
00:39:29,408 --> 00:39:31,410
and eat any of these products now?
622
00:39:31,911 --> 00:39:33,871
Mr. Chairman, and members
of the committee,
623
00:39:33,954 --> 00:39:35,456
on the advice of my counsel,
624
00:39:35,539 --> 00:39:37,416
I respectfully decline
to answer your question
625
00:39:37,500 --> 00:39:40,380
based on the protection afforded me
under the United States Constitution.
626
00:39:40,461 --> 00:39:41,712
You're dismissed.
627
00:39:43,422 --> 00:39:49,261
Sometimes manufacturers of food
don't really think of it as food.
628
00:39:49,345 --> 00:39:51,764
It becomes a... a commodity.
629
00:39:51,847 --> 00:39:55,351
So they don't think about it
in the sense of, "Oh, my goodness,
630
00:39:55,434 --> 00:39:58,771
this is going to go into somebody's mouth
and into their stomach."
631
00:39:58,854 --> 00:40:02,108
My father was
a highly decorated Korean War veteran
632
00:40:02,191 --> 00:40:04,735
and was awarded
three Purple Hearts for his valor.
633
00:40:04,819 --> 00:40:08,948
His final battle occurred when he ate
some contaminated peanut butter from PCA.
634
00:40:09,532 --> 00:40:12,368
When you spend time
with these victims and speak with them,
635
00:40:12,451 --> 00:40:13,828
they don't get over it.
636
00:40:13,911 --> 00:40:15,830
It's not a natural form of grief
637
00:40:15,913 --> 00:40:19,875
when someone you love dies from,
um, a bunch of peanut butter crackers.
638
00:40:19,959 --> 00:40:23,462
Our family feels cheated.
My mom should be here today.
639
00:40:24,380 --> 00:40:27,007
The FDA partnered
with the Department of Justice,
640
00:40:27,091 --> 00:40:30,886
and they brought felony counts
against Stewart Parnell and his associates
641
00:40:30,970 --> 00:40:34,515
for knowingly and intentionally
shipping contaminated products
642
00:40:34,598 --> 00:40:37,810
that had toxic salmonella
into the stream of commerce.
643
00:40:38,644 --> 00:40:41,188
Stewart Parnell,
he is sentenced yesterday
644
00:40:41,272 --> 00:40:44,108
to 28 years behind bars.
645
00:40:44,191 --> 00:40:45,818
Eight people died, sir.
646
00:40:45,901 --> 00:40:48,362
Do you have anything to say
to their families?
647
00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:51,907
It doesn't bother him
to this day because he's still appealing.
648
00:40:52,408 --> 00:40:54,618
"Murdering people is okay."
649
00:40:54,702 --> 00:40:56,620
And I'm sorry. I call this murder.
650
00:40:56,704 --> 00:40:59,373
He knew
that there was salmonella in there.
651
00:40:59,457 --> 00:41:00,833
So, you know, Stewart,
652
00:41:00,916 --> 00:41:04,044
why would you ship that
knowing you could kill people?
653
00:41:04,128 --> 00:41:05,796
Explain to the families.
654
00:41:07,131 --> 00:41:11,469
Criminal prosecution is appropriate
when it comes to really bad actors.
655
00:41:11,552 --> 00:41:15,764
People like Stewart Parnell,
who knowingly sold contaminated product,
656
00:41:15,848 --> 00:41:18,642
or Jack DeCoster, the Egg King.
657
00:41:19,477 --> 00:41:21,687
Salmonella outbreaks
sickening hundreds
658
00:41:21,770 --> 00:41:23,564
have led to a national egg recall.
659
00:41:23,647 --> 00:41:26,567
The numbers are enough
to give anyone shell shock.
660
00:41:26,650 --> 00:41:30,070
The recall has grown
to more than 500 million eggs
661
00:41:30,154 --> 00:41:31,989
from just two farms in Iowa.
662
00:41:32,072 --> 00:41:35,493
The chairman and owner,
Austin Jack DeCoster.
663
00:41:36,660 --> 00:41:38,579
Jack DeCoster is a businessman
664
00:41:38,662 --> 00:41:41,874
who's been in the farming industry
for easily 50 years.
665
00:41:41,957 --> 00:41:45,377
And in place after place
and time after time,
666
00:41:45,461 --> 00:41:47,796
he has run filthy farms.
667
00:41:51,175 --> 00:41:55,971
He knew that their product
was being produced
668
00:41:56,055 --> 00:41:59,350
in really insanitary conditions
669
00:41:59,433 --> 00:42:03,771
that likely would have resulted
in eggs being contaminated.
670
00:42:03,854 --> 00:42:07,149
A pile of manure at one of them,
eight feet high.
671
00:42:07,233 --> 00:42:09,652
Pile of manure, eight feet high, leaking!
672
00:42:09,735 --> 00:42:12,947
As many as 56,000 Americans
were sickened because of it.
673
00:42:13,531 --> 00:42:18,077
How is it possible
that after all this time,
674
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:23,749
we have another DeCoster egg producer
involved in a half-billion-dollar recall?
675
00:42:31,090 --> 00:42:33,425
Well, the question is complicated, so...
676
00:42:33,509 --> 00:42:34,677
You can...
677
00:42:35,427 --> 00:42:37,680
For decades he got away with it.
678
00:42:37,763 --> 00:42:43,602
But he finally was convicted
and, um, was given a short prison term.
679
00:42:46,146 --> 00:42:50,025
There will never be
an end to bad actors
680
00:42:50,109 --> 00:42:55,072
who decide that profit
is more important than ethics.
681
00:42:55,155 --> 00:42:56,782
We have laws.
682
00:42:56,865 --> 00:42:59,535
We have regulatory authorities
and regulatory agencies,
683
00:42:59,618 --> 00:43:02,204
and these things still happen, even today.
684
00:43:15,884 --> 00:43:16,969
Come on, guys.
685
00:43:21,348 --> 00:43:22,516
Come on, come on.
686
00:43:26,979 --> 00:43:29,440
After the Wright County egg outbreak,
687
00:43:29,523 --> 00:43:32,818
I wound up on Larry King Live,
talking about,
688
00:43:32,901 --> 00:43:34,612
you know, foodborne illness again.
689
00:43:34,695 --> 00:43:36,864
And sort of at the end of the segment,
690
00:43:36,947 --> 00:43:41,035
I just said, "I'm gonna get chickens,"
as just sort of a throwaway line.
691
00:43:41,118 --> 00:43:43,203
When I got home,
my youngest daughter was like,
692
00:43:43,287 --> 00:43:44,747
"Oh, so we're gonna get chickens."
693
00:43:44,830 --> 00:43:46,373
So now we have chickens,
694
00:43:46,457 --> 00:43:49,752
and now she's off at college,
and we still have chickens.
695
00:43:55,007 --> 00:43:58,260
More people are becoming sick
from a salmonella outbreak.
696
00:43:58,344 --> 00:44:00,280
- Salmonella outbreak.
- Salmonella outbreak.
697
00:44:00,304 --> 00:44:02,348
- Salmonella outbreak.
- Large salmonella outbreak.
698
00:44:02,431 --> 00:44:05,184
More than 100 people
have been sent to the hospital.
699
00:44:05,267 --> 00:44:08,896
- Three hundred cases.
- Made 278 people ill.
700
00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:15,694
At age two, I was hospitalized
for 11 days, uh, in New Haven.
701
00:44:15,778 --> 00:44:18,697
Uh, my folks... It was an isolation.
702
00:44:18,781 --> 00:44:20,616
My folks couldn't come to see me.
703
00:44:20,699 --> 00:44:23,744
You know,
so I am a survivor of salmonella.
704
00:44:23,827 --> 00:44:27,289
Uh, and it's... uh, it's a killer.
705
00:44:37,383 --> 00:44:40,386
If you look at the two bacteria
that are most likely
706
00:44:40,469 --> 00:44:42,888
to send you to the hospital from food,
707
00:44:42,971 --> 00:44:45,849
it's salmonella
and a germ called campylobacter.
708
00:44:45,933 --> 00:44:48,477
And if you look at the foods
that are most likely
709
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:50,854
to be the source for those bacteria,
710
00:44:50,938 --> 00:44:53,357
at least from the outbreak data,
it's chicken.
711
00:44:54,525 --> 00:44:57,194
And so if we want
to address foodborne illness,
712
00:44:57,277 --> 00:45:00,197
we wanna bring those numbers down,
chicken is the place to start.
713
00:45:04,743 --> 00:45:08,163
Four companies now control more than half
the market in chicken processing.
714
00:45:08,247 --> 00:45:10,457
So it's a very consolidated industry,
715
00:45:10,541 --> 00:45:13,460
and it means those companies
have a lot of control over our food.
716
00:45:13,544 --> 00:45:15,337
At the top, the very top of the chain,
717
00:45:15,421 --> 00:45:19,550
there are really just two breeders
controlling the entire poultry supply
718
00:45:19,633 --> 00:45:21,635
in the sense that they provide the eggs.
719
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,179
And those companies
largely operate in secrecy.
720
00:45:24,263 --> 00:45:27,433
Their customers are not the public.
They're not very communicative.
721
00:45:27,516 --> 00:45:30,018
And it's very hard to tell
what practices they're using
722
00:45:30,102 --> 00:45:32,896
to keep those eggs from spreading disease.
723
00:45:48,537 --> 00:45:51,373
Perdue is very focused on food safety,
724
00:45:51,457 --> 00:45:54,626
and, um, what makes us
a little bit different,
725
00:45:54,710 --> 00:45:58,881
I believe, it came from, uh,
the "no antibiotics ever" move.
726
00:45:58,964 --> 00:46:02,634
Well, tonight, there's a major change
coming to your dinner table.
727
00:46:02,718 --> 00:46:06,889
Perdue, the chicken makers,
say it's dropping most human antibiotics
728
00:46:06,972 --> 00:46:08,640
from its chicken products.
729
00:46:09,308 --> 00:46:12,227
In order to do that,
we needed to change a lot of things
730
00:46:12,311 --> 00:46:13,854
about how we raise chickens.
731
00:46:22,529 --> 00:46:26,366
Perdue produces
a little over 12 million chickens a week.
732
00:46:28,786 --> 00:46:30,287
So the eggs come in.
733
00:46:30,370 --> 00:46:33,499
Uh, we want to get them
to the hatchery as fast as we can.
734
00:46:33,582 --> 00:46:36,251
Make sure that they're
in a clean environment.
735
00:46:37,961 --> 00:46:39,797
We asked them, the farmer,
736
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,841
if there are some eggs
that are more likely to be dirty,
737
00:46:42,925 --> 00:46:44,176
put them on the bottom.
738
00:46:44,885 --> 00:46:48,138
We've been using this tool.
We can swab a lot of eggs
739
00:46:48,222 --> 00:46:49,765
and get immediate feedback
740
00:46:49,848 --> 00:46:51,683
on how much material is on
741
00:46:51,767 --> 00:46:54,686
and how much organic material
is alive on the egg.
742
00:47:00,734 --> 00:47:02,528
770's in the middle.
743
00:47:02,611 --> 00:47:06,448
Not terribly dirty
but not perfectly clean either.
744
00:47:07,115 --> 00:47:08,867
That doesn't mean there's salmonella,
745
00:47:08,951 --> 00:47:14,164
but it does give you a sense
of... of opportunity for salmonella.
746
00:47:19,336 --> 00:47:25,509
It takes 21 days to hatch a chicken from,
uh, an embryonated or a fertilized egg.
747
00:47:25,592 --> 00:47:28,345
So he's partially working his way out.
748
00:47:29,429 --> 00:47:30,681
- Taking a break.
- Yeah.
749
00:47:30,764 --> 00:47:33,058
Gonna work his way out some more.
750
00:48:06,300 --> 00:48:09,261
The chicks,
after they've hatched at the hatchery,
751
00:48:09,344 --> 00:48:11,763
and we've done all we can there
to keep them clean,
752
00:48:11,847 --> 00:48:13,348
we move them to the farm.
753
00:48:32,701 --> 00:48:34,244
They come here a day old.
754
00:48:35,412 --> 00:48:38,707
Day they hatch, we get them here,
put them in the chicken house.
755
00:48:38,790 --> 00:48:41,209
They stay here about 45 days.
756
00:48:41,293 --> 00:48:44,296
These birds here are about 14 days,
two weeks old.
757
00:48:50,302 --> 00:48:53,597
So we monitor
for specific types of salmonella,
758
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:58,226
and we use this sampling technique
called boot swabs, or bootie swabs,
759
00:48:58,310 --> 00:49:03,982
where you take a sock that's doused
in skim milk, put it over your boot,
760
00:49:04,066 --> 00:49:08,487
and walk through the chicken house trying
to sample as many chicken's droppings
761
00:49:08,570 --> 00:49:11,657
as you can possibly pick up
with those boots.
762
00:49:11,740 --> 00:49:15,619
And we figure over 100 chickens contribute
to the bootie sample.
763
00:49:15,702 --> 00:49:18,288
We send that to the lab
and look for salmonella.
764
00:49:38,850 --> 00:49:41,103
This is boneless, skinless breast.
765
00:49:41,186 --> 00:49:45,983
It comes down the line after
it's been taken off the, uh, bone.
766
00:49:47,109 --> 00:49:49,569
It goes into this unit and is washed.
767
00:49:50,237 --> 00:49:53,532
There's some peracetic acid,
helps us keep it clean
768
00:49:53,615 --> 00:49:57,202
from the process that we just did
all the way to the package.
769
00:49:58,954 --> 00:50:02,624
We believe that if a bird came in
with a little bit of salmonella,
770
00:50:02,708 --> 00:50:04,960
it'd be washed off and taken care of.
771
00:50:15,429 --> 00:50:19,182
One of the big broken pieces
of the American food safety system
772
00:50:19,266 --> 00:50:21,977
is that we don't monitor anything
on the farm.
773
00:50:24,938 --> 00:50:27,024
Those are off-limits to regulators.
774
00:50:29,359 --> 00:50:34,197
The problem lies in that a lot
of salmonella is found at the farm level,
775
00:50:34,281 --> 00:50:35,615
at the hatchery level.
776
00:50:38,452 --> 00:50:41,788
And, you know,
USDA's jurisdiction doesn't kick in
777
00:50:41,872 --> 00:50:44,916
until those chickens
actually enter the slaughter plant.
778
00:50:48,211 --> 00:50:49,211
A-mark.
779
00:50:54,509 --> 00:50:58,180
Let's just start off with,
tell me what you do for work.
780
00:50:58,263 --> 00:51:02,225
I am
a USDA consumer safety inspector,
781
00:51:02,309 --> 00:51:04,144
and I inspect chickens.
782
00:51:13,820 --> 00:51:17,407
We run over 300,000 chickens a day.
783
00:51:21,953 --> 00:51:27,250
We're looking at 175 birds a minute,
and they're going by so fast.
784
00:51:29,878 --> 00:51:33,006
There's only one inspector
at the very end of the line,
785
00:51:33,757 --> 00:51:35,926
and they do miss a lot sometimes.
786
00:51:38,095 --> 00:51:40,180
Some of the plants I've worked at,
787
00:51:40,263 --> 00:51:43,850
I feel like the chicken's
not safe to go out.
788
00:51:43,934 --> 00:51:47,437
I feel like consumers
would really be shocked
789
00:51:47,521 --> 00:51:50,524
at some of the stories
that we could tell them.
790
00:51:52,609 --> 00:51:53,777
I've seen...
791
00:51:53,860 --> 00:51:57,906
...plant person
throwing chickens in the chiller
792
00:51:57,989 --> 00:52:00,659
and would have fecal matter in them.
793
00:52:03,578 --> 00:52:08,416
I've seen inspectors sleep on the line
and product just going on by.
794
00:52:09,835 --> 00:52:12,796
And you'll see employees,
they've been to the bathroom.
795
00:52:12,879 --> 00:52:14,965
They're not washing their hands.
796
00:52:15,048 --> 00:52:16,508
I've seen...
797
00:52:16,591 --> 00:52:21,012
...people drop their knives,
not attempt to pick them up and wash it,
798
00:52:21,096 --> 00:52:23,515
just go right back to using it.
799
00:52:25,934 --> 00:52:28,145
They got a quota they gotta meet.
800
00:52:28,228 --> 00:52:32,107
And, you know,
I feel like they're there to make a profit
801
00:52:32,190 --> 00:52:33,984
and get the chickens through.
802
00:52:34,067 --> 00:52:36,486
They don't care what shape they're in.
803
00:52:38,989 --> 00:52:44,286
The USDA inspection regime is really...
goes back to the early 1900s
804
00:52:44,369 --> 00:52:47,164
and, you know,
Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle.
805
00:52:47,247 --> 00:52:49,249
It was not a pleasant novel.
806
00:52:49,332 --> 00:52:53,128
It told of conditions of filth
and carelessness in the handling of meat,
807
00:52:53,211 --> 00:52:56,173
and those who read it
became concerned and aroused.
808
00:52:57,174 --> 00:52:58,341
It's an outrage.
809
00:53:00,552 --> 00:53:04,264
Meat and poultry inspection laws
are designed to deal with the problem
810
00:53:04,347 --> 00:53:09,644
that Teddy Roosevelt addressed in 1906
in meatpacking plants in Chicago,
811
00:53:09,728 --> 00:53:13,315
which is diseased animals
coming into facilities,
812
00:53:13,398 --> 00:53:16,067
spoiled meat being put
into the food system.
813
00:53:17,569 --> 00:53:20,780
Frankly, when they built
that inspection regime,
814
00:53:20,864 --> 00:53:24,201
we didn't even understand viruses
and bacteria.
815
00:53:25,035 --> 00:53:27,704
Every bird must be
individually inspected.
816
00:53:27,787 --> 00:53:31,041
It must prove to be wholesome,
or else it is condemned.
817
00:53:32,292 --> 00:53:35,012
What they're expected to do
has nothing to do with bacteria.
818
00:53:35,086 --> 00:53:37,047
You can't see bacteria.
819
00:53:37,589 --> 00:53:39,841
They're not visible to the naked eye.
820
00:53:42,844 --> 00:53:45,180
You have hundreds,
if not thousands,
821
00:53:45,263 --> 00:53:48,099
of poultry inspectors
sitting on slaughter lines,
822
00:53:48,183 --> 00:53:51,394
watching birds go by,
to meet the statutory mandate
823
00:53:51,478 --> 00:53:55,482
to have a US government inspector look at
every chicken that goes through a facility
824
00:53:55,565 --> 00:53:58,068
with no meaningful benefit
for food safety.
825
00:53:58,151 --> 00:54:00,278
It's a waste
of hundreds of millions of dollars.
826
00:54:01,279 --> 00:54:05,283
I disagree with that assessment
for a number of reasons.
827
00:54:05,367 --> 00:54:07,452
They do look at the product.
828
00:54:07,535 --> 00:54:10,872
That's what the law requires
under current statutes.
829
00:54:10,956 --> 00:54:13,917
They look at the records
that companies keep
830
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:17,128
to ensure that they're doing
what they're supposed to do,
831
00:54:17,212 --> 00:54:20,090
and they sample and test product.
832
00:54:23,176 --> 00:54:25,929
We run millions of birds a month.
833
00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:31,601
We test five salmonella samples a month
of a whole bird.
834
00:54:33,228 --> 00:54:37,399
And we do five samples of parts
at our plant.
835
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,948
That's all the USDA does.
836
00:54:49,035 --> 00:54:52,497
And just because it says
that "USDA inspected" on there,
837
00:54:52,580 --> 00:54:55,917
it don't mean nothing
because it's gotta be on their label.
838
00:54:56,001 --> 00:55:00,213
I wouldn't want to eat nothing coming
from some of the plants myself.
839
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:04,676
When you bring raw poultry
into your kitchen,
840
00:55:04,759 --> 00:55:06,386
you're taking a significant risk.
841
00:55:06,469 --> 00:55:09,723
The real problem
is that even somebody as careful as me,
842
00:55:09,806 --> 00:55:12,434
I'm a microbiologist
that studies these pathogens,
843
00:55:12,517 --> 00:55:14,602
when I bring these packages into my house,
844
00:55:14,686 --> 00:55:18,231
it's really hard
not to contaminate things.
845
00:55:19,941 --> 00:55:21,061
I'm gonna open that package,
846
00:55:21,109 --> 00:55:24,112
and I'm immediately gonna put
that plastic into the trash.
847
00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:26,656
I'm gonna use my foot.
848
00:55:27,449 --> 00:55:29,075
Then I'm gonna take the chicken
849
00:55:29,159 --> 00:55:32,495
and immediately put it into,
you know, hot oil and start frying it.
850
00:55:35,749 --> 00:55:37,751
Then I'm gonna throw away
the rest of the package,
851
00:55:37,834 --> 00:55:41,087
but this time I touched the top
of the trash can, right?
852
00:55:42,839 --> 00:55:44,924
And then I go wash my hand,
and I turn on the faucet.
853
00:55:45,008 --> 00:55:46,384
I've just contaminated the faucet.
854
00:55:46,468 --> 00:55:48,678
I pump the soap.
I've just contaminated the soap.
855
00:55:48,762 --> 00:55:50,597
I'm gonna wash my hands really well.
856
00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:53,141
Then I'm gonna rinse my hands,
and shut off the faucet.
857
00:55:53,224 --> 00:55:55,894
I've just recontaminated my hand,
and I'm gonna go make a salad.
858
00:55:58,855 --> 00:56:02,317
As careful as I am,
those bacteria get around.
859
00:56:05,153 --> 00:56:08,823
Once that salmonella is dry,
it can stay on surfaces for months.
860
00:56:08,907 --> 00:56:11,743
It could still make someone sick
when ingested.
861
00:56:11,826 --> 00:56:15,914
You should know that when you bring
raw poultry into your kitchen,
862
00:56:15,997 --> 00:56:19,000
you are introducing
into your household a biohazard,
863
00:56:19,084 --> 00:56:20,960
and you should handle it accordingly.
864
00:56:24,964 --> 00:56:26,800
When you consume salmonella,
865
00:56:26,883 --> 00:56:30,970
some of those strains also
are resistant to multiple antibiotics,
866
00:56:31,054 --> 00:56:34,891
and so the likelihood that a treatment
is going to fail is much higher.
867
00:56:38,561 --> 00:56:41,189
Those bacteria are going to continue
to grow in your blood,
868
00:56:41,272 --> 00:56:43,900
and sadly, people die of these infections.
869
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:11,386
So the way we test foods,
870
00:57:11,469 --> 00:57:15,640
I think the samples dropped off here
for us to test were five samples
871
00:57:15,723 --> 00:57:19,894
of... of chicken that were purchased
from local grocery stores.
872
00:57:21,813 --> 00:57:24,065
In about one hour, we get results,
873
00:57:25,483 --> 00:57:27,652
whether it has salmonella or not.
874
00:57:28,445 --> 00:57:30,205
On our first day of production,
875
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,866
we went to a food safety lab in Seattle.
876
00:57:32,949 --> 00:57:36,327
We picked up five brands
of raw chicken and tested them.
877
00:57:36,411 --> 00:57:39,581
And we were told by the lab,
"You're not gonna get positive results."
878
00:57:39,664 --> 00:57:40,957
"It's too small of a sample."
879
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:43,793
We got one positive results,
and it was Perdue.
880
00:57:43,877 --> 00:57:46,713
Can I just ask for your reaction to that?
881
00:57:46,796 --> 00:57:53,136
I would say a chicken is, uh,
not even a fair thing to talk about.
882
00:57:53,219 --> 00:57:58,558
Uh, so, I mean, again,
we run hundreds of birds
883
00:57:58,641 --> 00:58:01,102
in order to understand where we're at.
884
00:58:01,186 --> 00:58:03,563
And the other part is I would wonder
885
00:58:03,646 --> 00:58:07,233
what the salmonella was in particular.
886
00:58:07,317 --> 00:58:08,651
It was infantis.
887
00:58:08,735 --> 00:58:14,324
Yeah. Having said that, one chicken
is not a fair... uh, fair discussion at all.
888
00:58:14,824 --> 00:58:18,119
What do you think would be
a fair sample set?
889
00:58:18,203 --> 00:58:23,249
A hundred and fifty, uh,
in a relatively short period of time.
890
00:58:33,635 --> 00:58:38,389
So you're going
to be testing 150 chicken parts
891
00:58:38,473 --> 00:58:40,517
for us over the course of five weeks
892
00:58:40,600 --> 00:58:43,978
from the top four major brands
in this country.
893
00:58:48,358 --> 00:58:51,402
You're close to the end
of testing all one hundred...
894
00:58:51,486 --> 00:58:53,988
We're slightly...
We're about 60% of testing
895
00:58:54,072 --> 00:58:56,241
if you intend to bring in 150.
896
00:58:56,324 --> 00:59:00,328
Great. If I buy chicken
at the grocery store,
897
00:59:00,411 --> 00:59:02,372
should I assume it's safe for me?
898
00:59:02,455 --> 00:59:08,711
In this country, if you buy poultry,
uh, from any grocery store,
899
00:59:08,795 --> 00:59:11,631
regardless of the brand
of poultry that you buy,
900
00:59:12,298 --> 00:59:15,802
your... your primary assumption
should be that
901
00:59:15,885 --> 00:59:20,139
it contains pathogens
such as salmonella and campylobacter.
902
00:59:21,558 --> 00:59:26,271
The fact of the matter is salmonella
in chicken is okay to be sold.
903
00:59:26,354 --> 00:59:27,772
It's not an adulterant.
904
00:59:27,855 --> 00:59:33,152
So it's fine to knowingly sell
salmonella, campylobacter-tainted chicken.
905
00:59:34,904 --> 00:59:39,075
There was a famous case where
the government and industry simply said
906
00:59:39,158 --> 00:59:42,579
that it was the housewife's job
to protect the family.
907
00:59:45,873 --> 00:59:47,500
What it boils down to
908
00:59:47,584 --> 00:59:49,252
is the courts ruled that, you know,
909
00:59:49,335 --> 00:59:51,671
the salmonella can't be considered
an adulterant
910
00:59:51,754 --> 00:59:55,800
because housewives know
how to cook chicken.
911
00:59:55,883 --> 00:59:58,803
Can she prepare
those favorite dishes of Tim's
912
00:59:58,886 --> 01:00:00,763
just like his mother used to make?
913
01:00:01,556 --> 01:00:04,350
And therefore,
it doesn't pose a threat to human illness.
914
01:00:05,393 --> 01:00:09,897
Remember, it pays to play safe
in the kitchen.
915
01:00:11,399 --> 01:00:15,194
This terrible court case
dealt a death blow
916
01:00:15,278 --> 01:00:19,115
to... to regulation in the United States
regarding salmonella.
917
01:00:19,198 --> 01:00:22,493
Sadly, a true death blow
to a lot of people since.
918
01:00:22,577 --> 01:00:26,372
The USDA throws up its hand and says,
919
01:00:26,456 --> 01:00:32,295
"Toxic salmonella are a normal part
of raw chicken."
920
01:00:32,378 --> 01:00:35,048
"You don't want toxic salmonella?
Cook it."
921
01:00:39,552 --> 01:00:41,232
That's what we're trying to change.
922
01:00:41,971 --> 01:00:44,557
The burden shouldn't be with consumers.
923
01:00:45,725 --> 01:00:48,811
And that's why we filed
a petition with the USDA.
924
01:01:03,117 --> 01:01:06,079
Well, welcome. Let me just say
it's so good to really be,
925
01:01:06,162 --> 01:01:08,247
uh, with... with all of you.
926
01:01:08,331 --> 01:01:12,377
I... I just have such high regard
for the work that you do and...
927
01:01:12,460 --> 01:01:16,756
I know, Bill, you have petitions
that you have moving forward,
928
01:01:16,839 --> 01:01:20,009
and Sarah, you do, uh, as well.
929
01:01:20,093 --> 01:01:22,512
And I'd love to have you just update me.
930
01:01:23,096 --> 01:01:28,810
I made a really broad petition
that would essentially encompass
931
01:01:28,893 --> 01:01:33,356
making all salmonellas
that cause human disease an adulterant.
932
01:01:33,439 --> 01:01:37,568
Draw a line in the sand and say, you know,
"Thou shalt not have a pathogen
933
01:01:37,652 --> 01:01:40,446
in your food that can sicken
or kill your kid."
934
01:01:40,530 --> 01:01:42,323
Science supports that.
935
01:01:42,407 --> 01:01:46,244
Yeah, these pathogens are taking advantage
of the gaps we have in our current system.
936
01:01:46,327 --> 01:01:47,203
Yeah.
937
01:01:47,286 --> 01:01:50,998
I mean, I think the common thread
of all the work that we're all doing
938
01:01:51,082 --> 01:01:54,168
is modernizing the outdated system
that we have now.
939
01:01:54,252 --> 01:01:56,838
That's the importance
of this conversation.
940
01:01:56,921 --> 01:01:58,881
You spoke, Sarah, about the gaps.
941
01:01:58,965 --> 01:02:02,385
- Mm.
- Where are... And I speak legislatively.
942
01:02:02,468 --> 01:02:05,513
Where are the gaps
that we need to try to fill in?
943
01:02:05,596 --> 01:02:07,432
We really don't have a government agency
944
01:02:07,515 --> 01:02:10,518
that's able to go onto farms
and look at food safety risks.
945
01:02:10,601 --> 01:02:16,065
They can regulate diseases
that cause animal illnesses,
946
01:02:16,149 --> 01:02:21,070
but they turn a blind eye to the diseases
that cause human illness.
947
01:02:21,154 --> 01:02:23,698
If it makes you sick...
948
01:02:25,700 --> 01:02:27,702
...let's regulate it.
949
01:02:27,785 --> 01:02:28,661
We can do it,
950
01:02:28,745 --> 01:02:31,748
but I... I don't have
to tell anyone around this table
951
01:02:31,831 --> 01:02:33,708
about the strength of the lobby.
952
01:02:33,791 --> 01:02:34,935
- Right.
- Yeah.
953
01:02:34,959 --> 01:02:36,878
You have to know
what you're up against.
954
01:02:37,378 --> 01:02:42,383
The food lobbyists are more powerful
than the consumer at the moment.
955
01:02:42,467 --> 01:02:44,927
It's... it's very, very political.
956
01:02:45,511 --> 01:02:46,511
Um...
957
01:02:46,554 --> 01:02:52,477
In... in a very, um...
in my view, in a dangerous way.
958
01:02:59,484 --> 01:03:02,570
Food companies hate regulation.
959
01:03:03,112 --> 01:03:05,698
They pay very expensive lobbyists
960
01:03:05,782 --> 01:03:07,533
to lobby the federal government
961
01:03:07,617 --> 01:03:13,080
to make sure that the regulatory oversight
is extremely limited.
962
01:03:13,164 --> 01:03:14,874
Madam chairman and committee members,
963
01:03:14,957 --> 01:03:17,877
as you can appreciate,
there are many issues impacting the state
964
01:03:17,960 --> 01:03:20,505
of the chicken industry
as I speak to you today.
965
01:03:21,005 --> 01:03:23,508
They go to Congress and say,
966
01:03:23,591 --> 01:03:26,427
"We know you're considering a bill
967
01:03:26,511 --> 01:03:31,390
to pass very tight regulations
about food safety."
968
01:03:31,474 --> 01:03:35,520
As Henry Ford once said,
"Don't find fault. Find a remedy."
969
01:03:36,354 --> 01:03:37,980
As soon as we propose something,
970
01:03:38,606 --> 01:03:40,900
you know,
the industry groups are gonna come in,
971
01:03:40,983 --> 01:03:43,528
and they're gonna have their stories
972
01:03:43,611 --> 01:03:46,864
about why this would be burdensome
on industry,
973
01:03:46,948 --> 01:03:49,283
and meat prices are gonna go higher,
974
01:03:49,367 --> 01:03:53,454
people are gonna lose their jobs,
and it's the consumer's responsibility.
975
01:03:53,538 --> 01:03:56,874
All those arguments
were the ones they said,
976
01:03:56,958 --> 01:04:01,254
you know, when E. coli O157:H7
was listed as an adulterant.
977
01:04:01,337 --> 01:04:04,006
You know, the world was gonna fall apart,
and it didn't.
978
01:04:08,386 --> 01:04:11,430
I was
the undersecretary for food safety
979
01:04:11,514 --> 01:04:15,268
which was the highest-ranking
food safety official in the US.
980
01:04:16,018 --> 01:04:18,646
And, I mean, I'm a scientist.
I'm not a politician.
981
01:04:18,729 --> 01:04:20,815
I was there to make the food supply safe.
982
01:04:22,441 --> 01:04:27,238
When you put agendas
and, you know, political interest aside,
983
01:04:27,321 --> 01:04:28,823
then you can solve problems.
984
01:04:28,906 --> 01:04:32,034
You can get data,
you can find the answers,
985
01:04:32,118 --> 01:04:34,495
and then you can find something
that actually works.
986
01:04:34,579 --> 01:04:37,874
Obviously, regulations are important.
I'm not saying they're not.
987
01:04:37,957 --> 01:04:41,085
But it's better for us to be able
to come to the table
988
01:04:41,168 --> 01:04:43,504
before we have to move to regulation.
989
01:04:44,255 --> 01:04:47,258
When you were nominated
for your position by President Trump,
990
01:04:47,341 --> 01:04:50,761
a lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's
Beef Association said that this was
991
01:04:50,845 --> 01:04:53,055
great news for the industry.
992
01:04:53,139 --> 01:04:55,933
Why was the industry
so excited about you in particular?
993
01:04:56,017 --> 01:04:57,351
Because I'm a scientist,
994
01:04:57,435 --> 01:05:00,396
and they knew I'd make
data-driven, science-based decisions.
995
01:05:01,314 --> 01:05:03,816
It had nothing to do with the fact
996
01:05:03,900 --> 01:05:06,611
that you had received a lot of money
for your research
997
01:05:06,694 --> 01:05:09,238
from this very same group over the years?
998
01:05:09,322 --> 01:05:11,240
No. I mean...
999
01:05:11,324 --> 01:05:12,575
No.
1000
01:05:13,200 --> 01:05:16,913
I do wish that that money, you know,
was my personal money.
1001
01:05:16,996 --> 01:05:19,916
It never... It wasn't.
It was university given to...
1002
01:05:19,999 --> 01:05:23,252
It was money given
to the university to do research.
1003
01:05:23,336 --> 01:05:27,798
And that's how we fund research programs,
is through grants from the cattlemen,
1004
01:05:27,882 --> 01:05:31,761
through, uh, you know, the meat institute,
all those different organizations.
1005
01:05:31,844 --> 01:05:35,264
Are you saying it isn't
a conflict of interest for you to regulate
1006
01:05:35,348 --> 01:05:38,517
the very industry that has funded
so many of your studies?
1007
01:05:38,601 --> 01:05:42,855
It didn't necessarily change the way
I looked at the industry at all.
1008
01:05:42,939 --> 01:05:46,651
If anything, you know,
I knew where the pathogens were
1009
01:05:46,734 --> 01:05:48,235
and how to control them
1010
01:05:48,319 --> 01:05:51,155
and all of those different components
of the industry.
1011
01:05:51,238 --> 01:05:54,575
So I think it just made me
a stronger person in that position.
1012
01:05:55,701 --> 01:05:58,329
Was your nomination
also great news, do you think,
1013
01:05:58,412 --> 01:06:01,499
for the consumers that rely on
the government to keep their food safe?
1014
01:06:01,582 --> 01:06:04,752
Yes. I'm a very strong consumer advocate.
1015
01:06:12,468 --> 01:06:16,347
And, you know, it's not just, you know,
Mindy Brashears, you know.
1016
01:06:16,430 --> 01:06:18,099
It's everyone in government.
1017
01:06:18,182 --> 01:06:22,311
They get into this...
you know, into this political realm.
1018
01:06:22,395 --> 01:06:25,731
And it doesn't seem like they really
1019
01:06:25,815 --> 01:06:29,318
are paying attention
to the people's business.
1020
01:06:30,486 --> 01:06:34,240
Have you made a decision
on the Marler petition yet?
1021
01:06:34,323 --> 01:06:35,741
No, we have not.
1022
01:06:35,825 --> 01:06:40,496
We are examining and assessing
the requests in the context
1023
01:06:40,579 --> 01:06:44,750
of our larger salmonella initiative.
1024
01:06:44,834 --> 01:06:49,171
Their goal in each of the petitions
is to do a better job
1025
01:06:49,255 --> 01:06:54,844
at reducing salmonella,
the strains that make people sick.
1026
01:06:54,927 --> 01:06:58,055
We have the same exact goal.
1027
01:06:59,515 --> 01:07:03,978
When Mike Taylor deemed
E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant,
1028
01:07:04,061 --> 01:07:05,855
he had complete authority to do that.
1029
01:07:05,938 --> 01:07:08,524
There's absolutely no reason that,
1030
01:07:08,607 --> 01:07:14,739
uh, Sandy Eskin couldn't do exactly
the same thing on her own right now.
1031
01:07:14,822 --> 01:07:16,262
She has the authority?
1032
01:07:16,323 --> 01:07:20,911
Absolutely. She has the authority to deem
salmonella an adulterant in chicken.
1033
01:07:20,995 --> 01:07:22,621
So why doesn't she?
1034
01:07:22,705 --> 01:07:25,416
Because, uh, the industry would...
1035
01:07:25,499 --> 01:07:28,085
And I should say this
knowing that it's chicken,
1036
01:07:28,169 --> 01:07:32,048
the industry would squawk, um,
and they would squawk loudly.
1037
01:07:35,968 --> 01:07:39,388
I feel like the industry
hasn't held up their end of the bargain.
1038
01:07:40,806 --> 01:07:41,849
You can go to Europe
1039
01:07:41,932 --> 01:07:43,726
and buy packages that are labeled,
1040
01:07:43,809 --> 01:07:45,728
you know, "pathogen-free" there.
1041
01:07:45,811 --> 01:07:47,813
You can't get that in the United States.
1042
01:07:49,815 --> 01:07:51,215
They went back to the farm,
1043
01:07:51,275 --> 01:07:54,236
and they prioritized getting rid
of the worst types of salmonella
1044
01:07:54,320 --> 01:07:55,446
that make humans sick.
1045
01:07:56,030 --> 01:07:58,574
They vaccinate chicken
against salmonella.
1046
01:07:58,657 --> 01:08:02,369
They sometimes eradicate flocks
that are contaminated with salmonella,
1047
01:08:02,453 --> 01:08:05,831
and they do those interventions
before they hit the slaughterhouse
1048
01:08:05,915 --> 01:08:10,336
because once they hit the slaughterhouse,
you know, it's not gonna help.
1049
01:08:17,093 --> 01:08:20,554
So it's not like we can't do it.
1050
01:08:20,638 --> 01:08:26,268
Um, we just don't have
the political will yet to do it.
1051
01:08:31,107 --> 01:08:34,026
When you look at what happened
to Stephanie Ingberg,
1052
01:08:34,693 --> 01:08:37,488
there's no question
we're not doing enough.
1053
01:08:37,571 --> 01:08:40,658
The government's not doing enough.
The industry's not doing enough.
1054
01:08:45,079 --> 01:08:47,123
Stephanie, you know,
when we first found out
1055
01:08:47,206 --> 01:08:50,751
that first morning that she was back
that she may not live very much longer,
1056
01:08:50,835 --> 01:08:56,257
the fact that she didn't die, uh,
gave us hope. She was still with us.
1057
01:08:56,340 --> 01:08:59,093
She was still in a coma.
We couldn't communicate with her.
1058
01:08:59,176 --> 01:09:01,846
They... they didn't know
why she wasn't waking up.
1059
01:09:01,929 --> 01:09:04,723
And I think that's what led
to the question about the brain injury,
1060
01:09:04,807 --> 01:09:06,100
that she just wasn't waking up.
1061
01:09:08,936 --> 01:09:10,771
The priest came in saying a prayer.
1062
01:09:12,064 --> 01:09:14,817
And during that prayer,
her eyes just started to slit open.
1063
01:09:14,900 --> 01:09:16,819
And that was the first sign of waking up.
1064
01:09:18,112 --> 01:09:19,112
Yeah.
1065
01:09:21,699 --> 01:09:23,367
Okay.
1066
01:09:23,450 --> 01:09:25,870
I specifically remember when I woke up,
1067
01:09:26,370 --> 01:09:29,915
everyone was surrounding me,
and everyone was very emotional around me.
1068
01:09:29,999 --> 01:09:32,602
I'm like, "What is the big deal?
Why is everyone so sad right now?"
1069
01:09:32,626 --> 01:09:34,003
"I don't understand."
1070
01:09:39,466 --> 01:09:43,888
So they were telling me
that I got, um, a strain of E. coli.
1071
01:09:43,971 --> 01:09:44,972
Okay.
1072
01:09:45,472 --> 01:09:47,600
Do you have any pain when I poke in there?
1073
01:09:47,683 --> 01:09:48,683
- No.
- No.
1074
01:09:49,810 --> 01:09:53,230
And it can give you HUS,
which is a fatal kidney disease,
1075
01:09:53,314 --> 01:09:54,398
which is what I got.
1076
01:09:58,819 --> 01:10:03,282
This condition in her body was
like a nuclear bomb exploding inside you,
1077
01:10:03,365 --> 01:10:05,910
where it hits every single organ,
1078
01:10:05,993 --> 01:10:08,621
and then you have to get there
and pick up the pieces.
1079
01:10:10,873 --> 01:10:13,433
Okay, good,
we're gonna go to the left side now.
1080
01:10:14,376 --> 01:10:17,838
It took me a long time
to rebuild my strength.
1081
01:10:18,589 --> 01:10:20,507
Feels better, huh?
1082
01:10:20,591 --> 01:10:24,261
My coma kind of knocked me out
for the hardest parts,
1083
01:10:24,345 --> 01:10:25,679
but I know there were moments
1084
01:10:25,763 --> 01:10:28,682
that my family and my doctors
didn't think I was gonna make it through,
1085
01:10:28,766 --> 01:10:30,434
which has been really hard on them.
1086
01:10:30,517 --> 01:10:34,271
And it's hard for me
to know that I put them through that pain.
1087
01:10:34,980 --> 01:10:35,980
Um...
1088
01:10:38,317 --> 01:10:39,317
But...
1089
01:10:39,652 --> 01:10:40,652
Yeah.
1090
01:10:41,654 --> 01:10:44,823
Control it all the way.
I'm gonna look at your knees as you go.
1091
01:10:44,907 --> 01:10:47,159
I had a lot of physical therapy,
1092
01:10:47,243 --> 01:10:49,912
a handful of outpatient dialysis visits.
1093
01:10:49,995 --> 01:10:51,914
I had doctor's appointments every day.
1094
01:10:51,997 --> 01:10:55,417
My mom couldn't go back to work
for months because she had to drive me
1095
01:10:55,501 --> 01:10:58,796
to probably two
or three doctor's appointments every day.
1096
01:10:58,879 --> 01:11:03,592
You know, I had a few goals
set in place that helped motivate me.
1097
01:11:03,676 --> 01:11:05,511
You know, I was graduating in May.
1098
01:11:05,594 --> 01:11:09,265
Being able to, um,
you know, walk at graduation
1099
01:11:10,182 --> 01:11:13,060
was one of my biggest goals
because at the time I couldn't walk.
1100
01:11:23,153 --> 01:11:26,282
And I'm crying,
but I achieved all those goals.
1101
01:11:26,365 --> 01:11:29,743
You know, I... I got to go to prom.
I got to walk at graduation...
1102
01:11:33,789 --> 01:11:36,583
...which, you know,
I feel like I'm pretty lucky
1103
01:11:36,667 --> 01:11:38,836
to be able to say I was able to do,
1104
01:11:38,919 --> 01:11:41,380
given the circumstances.
1105
01:11:42,715 --> 01:11:45,259
You are still having
protein spillage in the urine.
1106
01:11:45,926 --> 01:11:48,304
That is unfortunately not normal.
1107
01:11:48,387 --> 01:11:51,598
And that's why we're using,
uh, this medication, Lisinopril.
1108
01:11:52,141 --> 01:11:54,351
Unfortunately, uh,
1109
01:11:55,352 --> 01:11:59,148
it's been four years now,
and I'm not seeing this going away.
1110
01:12:00,524 --> 01:12:02,818
I'm kind of nervous
for what the future holds
1111
01:12:02,901 --> 01:12:06,155
with my kidney health and everything.
I try not to think about it.
1112
01:12:07,865 --> 01:12:09,742
I have to take a medication every day
1113
01:12:09,825 --> 01:12:13,746
to try to tighten the filters
in my kidneys.
1114
01:12:14,705 --> 01:12:17,166
I've talked to my nephrologist,
and there's a possibility
1115
01:12:17,249 --> 01:12:19,293
that I might have to get
a kidney transplant.
1116
01:12:19,376 --> 01:12:23,630
I mean, I might have to be
on dialysis for the rest of my life.
1117
01:12:23,714 --> 01:12:25,299
Like, you never wanna hear that.
1118
01:12:30,387 --> 01:12:34,016
I think some people tend
to brush off foodborne illness.
1119
01:12:36,477 --> 01:12:37,770
Oh, it's a little stomach ache.
1120
01:12:37,853 --> 01:12:40,689
You know, it's some extra time
in the bathroom. It's no big deal.
1121
01:12:42,483 --> 01:12:45,319
It is so much more
than that, you know.
1122
01:12:45,402 --> 01:12:49,615
It's comas and brain damage
and kidney trauma
1123
01:12:49,698 --> 01:12:52,326
and definitely should be taken seriously.
1124
01:12:52,409 --> 01:12:54,495
I ate a salad, and, you know,
1125
01:12:54,578 --> 01:12:58,332
now I have
long-term health effects from it.
1126
01:13:02,628 --> 01:13:06,882
If you were to develop a list
of the highest-risk foods right now,
1127
01:13:06,965 --> 01:13:10,844
romaine lettuce would be near the top,
if not at the top.
1128
01:13:12,137 --> 01:13:14,473
I'm curious if you eat romaine?
1129
01:13:14,556 --> 01:13:15,556
I don't.
1130
01:13:16,100 --> 01:13:17,518
Do you eat romaine?
1131
01:13:17,601 --> 01:13:21,563
I do steer clear of romaine
for the most part.
1132
01:13:22,731 --> 01:13:25,109
I mean, I think about it
every time I eat it.
1133
01:13:25,192 --> 01:13:28,987
I, you know...
I've rolled the dice.
1134
01:13:29,655 --> 01:13:32,616
Are there any foods
that you both absolutely avoid?
1135
01:13:33,117 --> 01:13:37,162
Bagged... We don't buy
prepackaged bagged salads.
1136
01:13:37,246 --> 01:13:38,163
- Um...
- Yeah.
1137
01:13:38,247 --> 01:13:43,836
We kind of tend to shy away from romaine,
especially from Yuma or Salinas.
1138
01:13:51,969 --> 01:13:54,430
Has the LGMA response prevented
1139
01:13:54,513 --> 01:13:56,640
leafy greens outbreaks in your opinion?
1140
01:13:57,724 --> 01:14:01,270
LGMA has made a significant difference
in this industry.
1141
01:14:02,146 --> 01:14:04,148
Are there any studies
that document
1142
01:14:04,231 --> 01:14:07,943
the improvement of safety
after the implementation of LGMA?
1143
01:14:15,993 --> 01:14:17,744
I don't know of any.
1144
01:14:17,828 --> 01:14:20,622
So you say
that you feel confident
1145
01:14:20,706 --> 01:14:22,416
that it's prevented certain outbreaks...
1146
01:14:22,499 --> 01:14:23,417
Absolutely.
1147
01:14:23,500 --> 01:14:25,085
I want to run through
1148
01:14:26,044 --> 01:14:28,297
some things that have gone down
the past five years.
1149
01:14:28,380 --> 01:14:31,592
So September 2017,
eight people sick from spinach.
1150
01:14:31,675 --> 01:14:36,889
November 2017, 67 people sick
from another unknown leafy green outbreak.
1151
01:14:36,972 --> 01:14:40,642
Then the following year in March,
a big one, 248 people, five dead.
1152
01:14:40,726 --> 01:14:42,269
April 2018, ten people.
1153
01:14:42,352 --> 01:14:45,564
October 2018,
three separate leafy green outbreaks,
1154
01:14:45,647 --> 01:14:47,065
sickening 135 people.
1155
01:14:47,149 --> 01:14:50,027
November, same thing, 167 people sick.
1156
01:14:50,110 --> 01:14:52,779
November 2019,
two more outbreaks that same year.
1157
01:14:52,863 --> 01:14:55,532
October 2020, 40 people.
1158
01:14:55,616 --> 01:14:57,659
This isn't a great track record, is it?
1159
01:14:58,702 --> 01:15:00,245
I think we have a lot to be proud of.
1160
01:15:00,329 --> 01:15:03,874
Certainly, every one of those
is... is a tragic incident
1161
01:15:03,957 --> 01:15:06,043
and the effect it had on those consumers.
1162
01:15:06,126 --> 01:15:10,714
But I am confident of the progress
that we have made through the LGMA
1163
01:15:10,797 --> 01:15:13,217
and the difference we have made
in the industry.
1164
01:15:18,972 --> 01:15:21,266
One thing that jumped out
at me when reporting
1165
01:15:21,350 --> 01:15:23,060
on these romaine lettuce outbreaks
1166
01:15:23,143 --> 01:15:26,188
is how little the federal government
1167
01:15:26,271 --> 01:15:28,232
was doing to address them.
1168
01:15:30,859 --> 01:15:33,904
For many years, we've given
the responsibility to the businesses
1169
01:15:33,987 --> 01:15:37,366
and let them take responsibility,
and that's not working.
1170
01:15:38,242 --> 01:15:39,882
I'm being asked to wrap up.
1171
01:15:39,952 --> 01:15:43,830
What do you want the viewers
to know about this issue?
1172
01:15:44,414 --> 01:15:46,208
Well, I would like your viewers to know
1173
01:15:46,291 --> 01:15:49,419
that the US has among
the safest food systems in the world.
1174
01:15:49,503 --> 01:15:53,674
But we plan to work together
to create an even safer, more digital,
1175
01:15:53,757 --> 01:15:57,719
transparent, and sustainable food system
that's going to be good for consumers.
1176
01:15:57,803 --> 01:16:00,973
It'll be good for producers,
and it will be good for the planet.
1177
01:16:03,517 --> 01:16:05,894
I can't even tell you how many times
1178
01:16:05,978 --> 01:16:10,107
I have heard policymakers,
executives, leaders say the phrase,
1179
01:16:10,190 --> 01:16:12,526
"America has the safest food system
in the world."
1180
01:16:12,609 --> 01:16:17,322
But there seems
to have been this endless cycle
1181
01:16:17,406 --> 01:16:23,203
of failure and outbreaks
and recalls and illnesses and deaths.
1182
01:16:23,287 --> 01:16:25,038
You know, when I hear politicians say,
1183
01:16:25,122 --> 01:16:27,332
"We've got the safest food system
in the world,"
1184
01:16:27,416 --> 01:16:30,536
it's just... it's laughable. We don't have
the safest food system in the world.
1185
01:16:30,586 --> 01:16:33,422
I mean, these pathogens are controllable.
We're not controlling them.
1186
01:16:33,505 --> 01:16:35,841
We're in the United States.
We expect better.
1187
01:16:36,967 --> 01:16:41,430
And when the safety of our food supply
lets us down, it lets us down big-time.
1188
01:17:13,045 --> 01:17:16,798
Right now, the government is not
doing enough to protect consumers.
1189
01:17:18,216 --> 01:17:21,303
And then consumers,
because the burden is often on them
1190
01:17:21,386 --> 01:17:22,596
when it gets to that level,
1191
01:17:22,679 --> 01:17:25,891
you know, they have to make sure that
they're taking the proper steps at home.
1192
01:17:30,228 --> 01:17:34,399
I would say number one food
on my list that I avoid is cantaloupe.
1193
01:17:35,692 --> 01:17:37,444
You cannot properly clean the outside,
1194
01:17:37,527 --> 01:17:40,489
and once you bring that knife through it,
it's too late.
1195
01:17:40,572 --> 01:17:42,574
And there's no kill step for cantaloupe.
1196
01:17:43,867 --> 01:17:45,702
Number two is sprouts.
1197
01:17:46,536 --> 01:17:49,748
Every other year,
there's a significant outbreak
1198
01:17:49,831 --> 01:17:52,250
where there's just no way to clean them.
1199
01:17:53,585 --> 01:17:56,880
I would say number three
would be bagged lettuce.
1200
01:17:58,256 --> 01:18:01,218
Your spring mix.
Your different salad mixes.
1201
01:18:01,301 --> 01:18:05,055
You don't necessarily know
how many heads of lettuce that came from.
1202
01:18:05,138 --> 01:18:07,391
Or do you even know
if it came from any one place?
1203
01:18:13,063 --> 01:18:15,941
All the outbreaks
that I've been involved in
1204
01:18:16,608 --> 01:18:20,737
are triple-washed, bagged,
and shipped around the country.
1205
01:18:22,406 --> 01:18:25,867
You know, buy it in a whole head
and wash it yourself.
1206
01:18:26,493 --> 01:18:28,203
Control your own environment.
1207
01:18:30,622 --> 01:18:32,302
Today,
when we were ordering lunch,
1208
01:18:32,374 --> 01:18:34,960
I avoided everything that has
that little star on it on the menu
1209
01:18:35,043 --> 01:18:38,588
saying consumption of undercooked meat
can expose you to risk.
1210
01:18:38,672 --> 01:18:40,924
So there was
some raw fish they were serving,
1211
01:18:41,007 --> 01:18:42,801
and I, uh, took a pass on that one.
1212
01:18:45,846 --> 01:18:48,932
You need to decide, "Am I
a person who loves raw oysters enough
1213
01:18:49,015 --> 01:18:53,061
that I want to take the risks
that are associated with raw oysters?"
1214
01:18:53,895 --> 01:18:56,656
I don't wanna be one
of those people who ends up losing a limb
1215
01:18:56,732 --> 01:18:58,650
because of, uh, you know, a night out.
1216
01:18:58,734 --> 01:19:00,026
Yeah.
1217
01:19:02,195 --> 01:19:03,822
Thank you. Thank you very much.
1218
01:19:03,905 --> 01:19:04,948
Thanks.
1219
01:19:07,242 --> 01:19:08,410
What are you having?
1220
01:19:08,952 --> 01:19:14,166
I'm gonna have a hamburger cooked
to 155 degrees internal temperature,
1221
01:19:14,666 --> 01:19:16,293
uh, french fries,
1222
01:19:16,376 --> 01:19:17,376
and that's it.
1223
01:19:17,419 --> 01:19:18,754
Okay. You got it.
1224
01:19:21,965 --> 01:19:25,135
When you go to a restaurant
and you want to order a hamburger,
1225
01:19:25,218 --> 01:19:28,013
the best thing to do
is order to temperature,
1226
01:19:28,597 --> 01:19:32,934
because medium rare, rare, well-done,
those are all subjective.
1227
01:19:33,018 --> 01:19:36,438
You can't look at color
or whether juices run clear.
1228
01:19:36,521 --> 01:19:39,858
And if they say, "We don't have
a thermometer. We can't cook to that."
1229
01:19:39,941 --> 01:19:41,735
Then I'd order something else.
1230
01:19:50,535 --> 01:19:53,288
I think when I first started
doing this kind of work,
1231
01:19:53,371 --> 01:19:54,790
I kind of thought that,
1232
01:19:55,499 --> 01:19:58,752
you know, if you sued enough people
and you took enough money,
1233
01:19:58,835 --> 01:20:00,629
that that would change their behavior.
1234
01:20:00,712 --> 01:20:03,757
I just turned 64, you know,
1235
01:20:03,840 --> 01:20:08,178
and I just don't feel like
I've accomplished what I was hoping to do.
1236
01:20:08,970 --> 01:20:10,013
So...
1237
01:20:10,096 --> 01:20:14,351
'Cause I really did think, you know...
I really did think that, you know,
1238
01:20:14,434 --> 01:20:17,187
by the time I got to this stage that,
1239
01:20:17,979 --> 01:20:22,234
um, you know, this kind of thing
wouldn't be happening anymore.
1240
01:20:23,109 --> 01:20:24,319
But it happens
1241
01:20:24,820 --> 01:20:25,820
all the time.
1242
01:20:26,279 --> 01:20:29,908
♪ Buried, banging at your door ♪
1243
01:20:32,577 --> 01:20:34,830
♪ Don't hear a sound... ♪
1244
01:20:34,913 --> 01:20:39,501
After my son died,
I assumed that either the government,
1245
01:20:40,210 --> 01:20:41,753
you know, laws and policies,
1246
01:20:41,837 --> 01:20:44,506
or science and technology
would take care of this.
1247
01:20:44,589 --> 01:20:49,386
We wouldn't be dealing with food safety
like we're talking about in 1993.
1248
01:20:50,720 --> 01:20:52,722
♪ A rising steam... ♪
1249
01:20:54,891 --> 01:20:59,646
Regulators have the ability
to set the tone and to build a framework
1250
01:20:59,729 --> 01:21:02,065
that encourages industry
to do the right thing.
1251
01:21:02,148 --> 01:21:04,276
♪ On the devil's tree ♪
1252
01:21:06,319 --> 01:21:08,113
♪ I clutched a branch... ♪
1253
01:21:08,196 --> 01:21:12,033
If the public makes their voices heard
1254
01:21:12,993 --> 01:21:16,705
and puts pressure on their legislators,
1255
01:21:16,788 --> 01:21:20,667
let them know that this is not acceptable,
1256
01:21:20,750 --> 01:21:26,298
then I believe, yes,
legislators will act on their behalf.
1257
01:21:27,382 --> 01:21:30,218
♪ I walk alone ♪
1258
01:21:30,302 --> 01:21:32,345
♪ Beside myself... ♪
1259
01:21:32,429 --> 01:21:35,891
I think you just have to keep fighting
the battles that are in front of you,
1260
01:21:35,974 --> 01:21:39,227
and I still think
there are things more to do, um,
1261
01:21:39,311 --> 01:21:41,688
so I guess I got to get busy.
1262
01:21:54,200 --> 01:21:55,493
♪ Ah ♪
1263
01:21:57,579 --> 01:22:01,041
♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪
1264
01:22:05,503 --> 01:22:09,758
♪ Ah ♪
1265
01:22:09,841 --> 01:22:12,177
♪ I walk alone ♪
1266
01:22:12,928 --> 01:22:15,430
♪ Beside myself ♪
1267
01:22:16,181 --> 01:22:18,558
♪ Nowhere to go ♪
1268
01:22:22,562 --> 01:22:25,106
♪ This bleeding heart ♪
1269
01:22:25,815 --> 01:22:28,902
♪ Is in my hands ♪
1270
01:22:28,985 --> 01:22:32,155
♪ I fell apart ♪
1271
01:22:32,238 --> 01:22:35,450
♪ My flesh and bone ♪
1272
01:22:38,536 --> 01:22:41,706
♪ My flesh and bone ♪
1273
01:22:43,375 --> 01:22:45,168
♪ Ah ♪
1274
01:22:45,251 --> 01:22:47,963
♪ My flesh and bone ♪
1275
01:22:48,305 --> 01:23:48,255
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