Food Safety

Pittsburgh & Pennsylvania

Allegheny County Health Department: Food Safety
The ACHD is responsible for food and restaurant inspection in Allegheny County
- Food Safety Consumer Alerts & Closures
Allegheny County Health Department Restaurant Inspection Reports
Search for a restaurant by name or location to pull up inspecition reports.
Eat Safe PA
Learn more about the 2011 statewide standard for food safety and search their food safety inspection database.
Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture: Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services
Includes restaurant inspections database.
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Their website will often include links to relevant information when there are outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.
Pennsylvania State University: Food Safety
Includes a Food Safety and Home Food Preservation Databases.

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Web Sites

FoodSafety.gov
Gateway to government food safety information.
- Causes of Food Poisoning
Food Safety at CDC
Look here for information on E. coli, Listeriosis, Salmonella, and Shigellosis.
- E.coli
- Listeria
- Norovirus
- Salmonella
- Making Food Safer to Eat
  Each year, roughly 1 in 6 people in the US gets sick from eating contaminated food.
Center for Science in the Public Interest
In June 2008 they published a report on food safety in restaurants: Dirty Dining: Have Reservations? You Will Now. Pittsburgh is included in the survey.
Christian Science Monitor: Food safety: How to keep our global menu off the recall list
"As the food recall list grows and food imports flood into the US, it may be time to revamp America's 70-year-old laws on food safety." 10/23/2010.
FDA Food
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition posts news on the latest regulations and covers the programs that they administer.
Food Safety News
Food Safety News is a daily Web-based newspaper dedicated to reporting on issues surrounding food safety, produced by Marler Clark, a law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness.

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Books

Ferrières, Madeleine
Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: a History of Food Fears
RC622.F47613 2005
Madeleine Ferrières demonstrates that food fears have been inspired not only by safety concerns but also by cultural, political, and religious prejudices. See other titles in this series Arts and Traditions of the Table.

Fox, Nicols
Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth about a Food Chain Gone Haywire
RA601.5.F68 1997
Journalist Fox chronicles the increase in deadly foodborne diseases as food is shipped further and becomes a product of industrial agriculture.

Perrett, Heli
Safe Food Handbook: How to Make Smart Choices about Risky Food
TX531.P39 2011x
The Safe Food Handbook covers seafood, eggs and egg products, dairy, legumes, fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, grains, nuts, herbs, and spices, addressing consumer concerns about bacteria, hormones, additives, chemicals, antibiotics, toxins, irradiation, and even wax on produce.

Scott, Elizabeth
How to Prevent Food Poisoning: A Practical Guide to Safe Cooking, Eating, and Food Handling
TX537.S38 1998
How to: be sure the food you're buying is safe; prevent food contamination in your home; transport and store food properly -- including leftovers; eat safely in restaurants; reduce germs in the kitchen.

Satin, Morton
Food Alert!: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety
RA601.5.S28 2008
Satin lists the most important pathogens associated with each food type and illustrates them with medical histories.

Satin, Morton
Food Irradiation: A Guidebook
TP371.8.S28 1996
Satin (Director, Agricultural Services, United Nations Division of Food and Agricultural Organization in Rome) argues in favor of food irradiation's practicality as a tool to prevent foodborne disease, suggesting a negotiated option between the pro and con camps that offers consumers a shelf choice.

Waltner-Toews, David
Food, Sex, and Salmonella: Why Our Food Is Making Us Sick
RC143.W35 2008x
Veterinary epidemiologist and ecosystem health specialist Waltner-Toews explores the global patterns of foodborne disease and the changes in climate, culture, agriculture, and trade that have led to the emergence of new diseases and epidemics.

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Videos

Buying and Storing Food Safely with Helen Highwaters
(DVD) TX537.B89 2000x
Fictional character Helen Highwaters takes a look at the issue of food safety by covering topics such as purchasing the best and healthiest food at the supermarket, safely transporting it home, and storing and refrigerating it safely.

Just the Facts: Food Safety
(DVD) TX531.J873 2007x
Presents instruction on safe food preparation, clean-up, and storage. Discusses food-borne illness.