The Centers for Disease Control reported today that foodborne illness remains a significant public health issue in the United States, and that, “fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved.”

Douglas Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University, says that more training, testing and inspecting is not the answer.

"There are way too many people getting sick," Powell said. "The CDC data show existing efforts to reduce foodborne illness have stalled. We need new messages using new media to really create a culture that values microbiologically safe food."

Powell publishes barfblog.com and conducts research on human food safety behavior from farm-to-fork. He can be reached by phone at 785-317-0560, or e-mail dpowell@k-state.edu.

His bio is at
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/powellbio.html