Today on Straight, No Chaser Katy Keiffer is on the phone with Dr. Richard Raymond. In 2005 after a long career in family medicine, Dr. Raymond was appointed Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the next 3 years, Dr. Raymond was responsible for overseeing the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). In semi-retirement now, he writes several blogs on food safety, has consulted with law firms on foodborne illness cases, is a consultant with the Nebraska Medical Association helping build public health advocacy, is a frequent lecturer on food safety and public health, and is a food safety and public health consultant for Elanco, the Animal Health branch of Eli Lilly. Tune into this episode to hear Katy and Dr. Raymond discuss low-dose and sub-therapeutic antibiotic usage in the meat and poultry industry and the prevalence antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Learn more about bacteria contamination in produce, and why poor meat-handling practices may be to blame. Katy and Dr. Raymond also talk about the inspection procedures of poultry plants and how it has affected salmonella levels in our food. This program has been brought to you by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons.

“Consumers have some responsibility. They need to understand that raw meat should not be considered sterile… The meat industry does not often come out and say, ‘Raw meat should not be considered sterile- you need to do a better job of handling it.’ They don’t like to say that about their product.” [18:50]

— Dr. Richard Raymond on Straight, No Chaser