CNN to air documentary on tainted vegetables
CNN to air documentary on tainted vegetables
One of the better known health advisers, Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, will star in a documentary airing May 19 and May 20 that investigates the deadly spinach outbreak.
In CNN: Special Investigations Unit - Danger: Poisoned Food, Dr. Gupta "asks tough questions about the voluntary guidance on the produce industrys processing and reveals that the FDA knew about problems that existed on farms in California," CNN said in a statement on the upcoming special.
Gupta takes Robert Brackett, food safety chief for the Food & Drug Administration, to task about his role in protecting the nations food supply, said the CNN statement. Food safety experts tell the CNN medical reporter that health problems associated with consuming fresh vegetables are getting worse and now exceed outbreaks linked to bad meat.
The hour-long documentary looks at the threat to the nations food supply from the farm to the packaging plant and to the grocery store shelves, said CNN. It takes viewers to Californias Salinas Valley to demonstrate farming practices that outbreak investigators say may have caused the E. coli contamination.
Dr. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, also focuses the camera lens on an Indiana family whose child suffers continuing health problems as a result of eating contaminated produce.
"We're hopeful that the piece will be balanced, said Lorna Christie, a senior vice president at the Produce Marketing Association. We did our best. "
PMA worked with CNN producers on the upcoming documentary, along with California-based Alliance for Food & Farming and Ketchum Communications as part of PMAs $500,000 public relations campaign on food safety.
CNN producers interviewed industry representatives, such as Joe Pezzini of Ocean Mist Farms, who is chairman of the California Leafy Greens Handler Marketing Board, and Salinas Mayor Dennis Donahue, who is president of European Vegetable Specialties Farms.
With public relations, "you're never guaranteed an outcome," Ms. Christie said. "But farmers are the most trusted sources to represent the industry and tell their positive stories about the importance of protecting consumers," she added.
The one-hour documentary is scheduled to air 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (EST) on May 19 and May 20.
In CNN: Special Investigations Unit - Danger: Poisoned Food, Dr. Gupta "asks tough questions about the voluntary guidance on the produce industrys processing and reveals that the FDA knew about problems that existed on farms in California," CNN said in a statement on the upcoming special.
Gupta takes Robert Brackett, food safety chief for the Food & Drug Administration, to task about his role in protecting the nations food supply, said the CNN statement. Food safety experts tell the CNN medical reporter that health problems associated with consuming fresh vegetables are getting worse and now exceed outbreaks linked to bad meat.
The hour-long documentary looks at the threat to the nations food supply from the farm to the packaging plant and to the grocery store shelves, said CNN. It takes viewers to Californias Salinas Valley to demonstrate farming practices that outbreak investigators say may have caused the E. coli contamination.
Dr. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, also focuses the camera lens on an Indiana family whose child suffers continuing health problems as a result of eating contaminated produce.
"We're hopeful that the piece will be balanced, said Lorna Christie, a senior vice president at the Produce Marketing Association. We did our best. "
PMA worked with CNN producers on the upcoming documentary, along with California-based Alliance for Food & Farming and Ketchum Communications as part of PMAs $500,000 public relations campaign on food safety.
CNN producers interviewed industry representatives, such as Joe Pezzini of Ocean Mist Farms, who is chairman of the California Leafy Greens Handler Marketing Board, and Salinas Mayor Dennis Donahue, who is president of European Vegetable Specialties Farms.
With public relations, "you're never guaranteed an outcome," Ms. Christie said. "But farmers are the most trusted sources to represent the industry and tell their positive stories about the importance of protecting consumers," she added.
The one-hour documentary is scheduled to air 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (EST) on May 19 and May 20.
