Public Health Scene

Sen. Amy Klobuchar has introduced federal legislation to promote a more rapid and effective national response to outbreaks of foodborne sickness like the recent case of salmonella-tainted peanut butter and last year's outbreak caused by tainted jalapeño peppers.

Last spring, people across the country were getting sick from salmonella. After cases began to show up in Minnesota, public health officials managed to trace the contamination to jalapeno peppers from Mexico. In the fall, people across the country were again getting sick from salmonella, including nine deaths (three of them in Minnesota). Again, the Minnesota team succeeded in tracing the source to peanut butter from a processing facility in Georgia.