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Food Safety Compliance Chaos: FDA Redactions, Conflicts of Interest & Mango Mayhem | Episode 165
What do mangoes, government redactions, and conspiracy-level blacked-out reports have in common?
In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, Matt and Francine peel back the layers (and redact absolutely nothing) on a bizarre FDA Salmonella mango investigation that’s about as useful as a blank HACCP plan.
From laughably censored outbreak reports to serious concerns about food safety compliance, conflicts of interest, and transparency failures, this episode dives deep into the cracks in our food safety systems. If you’ve ever wondered how the industry is supposed to improve when critical data is hidden, or how advisory committees operate without clear disclosure rules, this one’s for you.
Spoiler alert: You can’t fix what you can’t see. And right now? There’s a lot we’re not seeing.
In this episode:
💩 [01:14] Food safety podcast recap: A thank you to listeners
💩 [05:31] Why zero-context communication is a recurring theme (and problem)
💩 [08:22] The FDA mango report that looks like a redacted crime file
💩 [13:04] GAO calls out FDA on conflict of interest failures
💩 [16:43] Raw milk outbreaks and potential bias in regulatory decisions
💩 [20:42] 13 years later… still no conflict-of-interest policy?
💩 [23:01] What real accountability should look like in food safety regulations
Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.
Resources from this episode
Take a look at the articles we discuss in this episode:
- Why does a FDA Salmonella Mango Report look like a page out of the Epstein Files?
- GAO says FDA needs to give attention to conflict of interest policies
Check out our episode with Rick Biros: 15 Years of Food Safety Tech: Food Safety Compliance vs Reality with Rick Biros | Episode 161
Noteworthy quotes from this episode
“The files for the FDA look similar to the Epstein files, and the GAO is asking FDA, whatcha gonna do about conflicts of interest?” – Matt Regusci
“This is like policies and procedures. If you’re not gonna implement them, don’t write them.” – Francine L Shaw
We hope you enjoy this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!
Connect with Francine, Matt, and the “Don’t Eat Poop!” show on LinkedIn!
Check out Francine’s book Who Watches the Kitchen? on Amazon!
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