In 2006 my daughter Rylee got sick and almost lost her life from eating E. coli contaminated spinach.  Since then I pay close attention to the items we buy, how we handle food and prepare our meals, and watch food recalls closely.  Over the past eighteen months my family, together with Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), victims of foodborne illness and their families have been urging Congress to pass stronger food safety legislation to update laws that were enacted over 75 years ago – long before the globalization of our food supply. 

Earlier this year, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and media-mogul Ryan Seacrest, launched the television series Food Revolution. The show brought residents of a West Virginian town into our homes once a week to share their struggles with obesity, heart disease and diabetes.  Chef Oliver attempted to show them the rewards of cooking and good nutrition.  His message: “This food revolution is about saving America’s health by changing the way you eat. . . . Switching from processed to fresh food will not only make you feel better but it will add years to your life.”[1]  Just a few days ago, Food Revolution won an Emmy award for Outstanding Reality Program.

While the celebrity chef and producer deserve acknowledgment for raising public awareness of good nutrition, the show missed an opportunity to further educate the public and completely ignored the issue of food safety.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the foods most commonly associated with foodborne illness are the those you would consider healthy: fresh produce and fruits, meat and poultry, eggs, and shellfish.  At the time the Food Revolution team accepted their award, over half a billion eggs had been recalled due to salmonella contamination and sickened at least 1,300 people. 

Here’s the good news:  There is legislation that will move the focus to prevention of foodborne illness rather than reaction to it.  The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), will update the United States’ antiquated food safety system by giving the FDA mandatory recall authority, increase inspections of food processing facilities, require science based testing and reporting of pathogens for high risk products, and require imported foods to meet U.S. safety standards.

The bad news:  Time is running out.  This bill will not become law and will not do any of these things if the Senate doesn’t vote on it soon. 

Hollywood, if you’re listening and really want to make an impact on the viewing public, help us make America aware of the need for healthy and (equally important) safe foods.  We all need to eat and shouldn’t worry that in our quest for good nutrition, we may actually eat something that kills us.

To take action, visit http://bit.ly/aaU2cS and tell the White House it is time to pass strong FDA legislation now!

More than three years ago, my daughter Rylee ate a spinach salad contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. She spent one month in the hospital, required dialysis, as well as several blood transfusions, and spent an additional two months at home recovering. As a mother and a consumer, I want to make sure the food I’m buying is safe, and that I’m protecting my family from unseen, preventable risks.

In Nevada, I know I’m not alone: Nearly half of the voters who participated in a recent poll[1] commissioned by the Pew Health Group and conducted by Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies say they are worried about bacterial contamination, and the same percentage of voters say what they have seen and heard in the last year has made them less confident in the safety of food sold in the U.S.

Furthermore, an overwhelming 91 percent of Nevada voters[2] polled support food safety legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authorities to ensure the food Americans eat does not make them sick.

Last month, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) was unanimously approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, and is now awaiting floor consideration. If enacted, S.510 would take a preventive approach to food safety at FDA, requiring food facilities to develop preventive control programs to reduce the risk of contamination.

Today Rylee is in better health, but the long term consequences of her illness are still unknown. Doctors suggest that she will probably need at least two kidney transplants during her life as a result of the damaged caused by E. coli O157:H7. Her experience makes me very aware of the potential dangers in the food I feed her every day and I am really encouraged by the overall support for new safety measures.

On behalf of the concerned voters in Nevada, the American consumers at the mercy of the next outbreak, and the moms who care deeply about the safety of our nation’s food supply, I encourage Sen. Reid (NV) to make food safety a major priority and to schedule before the end of this year a vote on this very important bill.

I volunteer for S.T.O.P. – an organization that supports foodborne illness victims and I have listened to many families share their stories of watching their children or parents die because they ate spinach or peanut butter. As Americans we should not have to worry that the food we feed our families could make them sick, or even kill them.

[2] http://www.makeourfoodsafe.org/pages?id=0003

A few years ago my life was much like the lives of many other mothers across the United States. Most of my waking hours were consumed with my job and taking care of my family. There were times when my daughter Rylee, now 12 years old, would spend the evening in a sleeping bag near my desk at work. I thought I was doing pretty well keeping up with what was going on in the world by reading the newspaper and watching the news. Needless to say, I hardly had the time to engage in political activism.

But then Rylee got sick – and my perspective changed.

More than three years ago, for her 9^th birthday, my husband Matt and I took Rylee on a trip to northern California. The morning after we arrived in Monterey for a visit to the aquarium, Rylee woke up complaining of a severe stomach ache and diarrhea. I took her to the nearest urgent care facility, and within 48 hours, she was in the pediatric intensive care unit at a children’s hospital in San Francisco.

At the hospital her blood pressure dropped. She was dehydrated and hallucinating. Her kidneys began to fail, and she was put on dialysis and required several blood transfusions. I sat there with Matt for a month, not knowing if she would pull through.

This all happened because Rylee ate a spinach salad contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Rylee eventually recovered after spending over one month in the hospital and an additional two months at home – away from school, her friends and activities. As the result of a difficult intubation procedure, Rylee also lost her voice, a condition for which she underwent speech therapy. Unfortunately, the damage to Rylee’s kidneys can never be reversed. Though now in good health, many emotional scars remain, including a fear of eating raw vegetables and fruits.

I still find it difficult to process that it was contaminated spinach that caused Rylee’s illness, but the experience has made me active in the effort to improve the nation’s food safety system.

On Oct. 6 and 7, Rylee, Matt and I participated in Food Safety Action Day in Washington, DC, as part of the Make Our Food Safe (MakeOurFoodSafe.org) coalition, which includes a number of consumer and public health organizations. Through our connection with coalition member S.T.O.P – Safe Tables Our Priority (Safetables.org), an organization dedicated to preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens, we were part of a team made up of victims of foodborne pathogens and their family members.  Together, we visited Capitol Hill to make our voices and stories heard.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) and Rep. Dina Titus, who represents my home of Henderson, NV, are already supporters of stronger food safety laws.  We thanked Rep. Titus for voting for the House food safety bill (HR 2749) that passed in July. Sen. Reid pledged his support of the companion food safety bill, S 510, and told Rylee he would do whatever he could to get the bill passed.

We met with staff members from the offices of Sen. Ensign (NV) and Sen. Daniel Inouye (HI), and Rylee was given the opportunity to tell them how she got sick and why she wanted the food safety laws changed. In each meeting we underscored that what happened to Rylee is not uncommon: every year millions of Americans are sickened by contaminated food and thousands of people die unnecessarily. To see Rylee’s short video on our trip to Capitol Hill, visit:www.youtube.com/safetables.

I am a busy mom just like a many other women in this country. I want to make sure my daughter grows up healthy and happy, and it is my job to make sure she eats nutritious food. I want to feel confident that when I go to the store, the food I am buying is safe and not a risk to my family. As consumers, we don’t have the power to check on these products and without a better system to protect us we are totally at the mercy of the next outbreak.

To take action, visit http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Rylee and send your senator a letter telling them that you demand improvements to our food safety system. You owe it to your children, and yourself, to speak out.

Kathleen Chrismer

Henderson, NV

Rylee’s Mom