USA Today science reporter to discuss food safety and the press in K-State presentation

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Source: Doug Powell, 785-317-0560, dpowell@k-state.edu
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News release prepared by: Doug Powell

Friday, January 19, 2007

USA TODAY SCIENCE REPORTER TO DISCUSS FOOD SAFETY AND THE PRESS IN K-STATE PRESENTATION

MANHATTAN -- Elizabeth Weise, USA Today's science reporter, will present "Food Safety and The Press: Why Did We Suddenly Care About Veggies in 2006?" as part of the Food Safety Network seminar series at Kansas State University.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Room 212 at the K-State Student Union.

E. coli O157:H7 in fresh spinach sickened 200 people and killed four beginning in September 2006, followed by a similar outbreak in lettuce afflicting 30 people in Ontario, Canada, in October. Seven became ill with botulism traced to fresh carrot juice, and two outbreaks of salmonella linked to tomatoes eaten at restaurant outlets in the U.S. sickened another 250. In November, two separate outbreaks of dangerous E. coli at Taco Bell and Taco John's were traced back to pre-shredded iceberg lettuce and sickened another 140 people.

"Fresh fruits and vegetables have been recognized as one of -- if not the leading -- source of foodborne illness for the past decade," said Douglas Powell, scientific director of K-State's Food Safety Network. "Yet only in the past few months has the problem -- and possible solutions -- generated widespread media coverage."

"The problem had been there for years but last fall was the tipping point," Weise said.

Weise has worked at USA Today since 1997. Based in San Francisco, she covers a variety of topics including food safety, biotechnology and agriculture. She was a John S. Knight Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford University from 2001-2002, where she studied biology. Weise previously covered the Internet and high tech for USA Today, and before that was the national cyberspace writer for The Associated Press. Weise began her journalism career as a reporter for KUOW, Seattle's National Public Radio affiliate. She attended the University of Lund in Sweden and is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, where she majored in Swedish and minored in Chinese.

The Food Safety Network, which seeks to put science into action through applied research, commentary and public information on food safety issues from farm-to-fork.