Featured Reports

Making Good Choices (Winter 2005-2006 Trust Magazine article)

In partnership with Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and the Brookings Institution, the two-year, $3.9-million Retirement Security Project (RSP) is backed by an advisory board that includes members of five presidential administrations. RSP is looking for practical, commonsense ways to both prompt people to save more and identify incentives to saving embedded in government programs and policies.

Lessons to Be Learned from the 2008 Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak of 2008 officially over on August 28, 2008, some three months after it began. During that time, more than 1,400 persons were reported infected, and if, as suggested by research, this represents an underreporting, the outbreak may have sickened thousands of Americans. Given the human, economic and public-health costs of this recent food borne-illness outbreak, therefore, it is critical to learn from it. This report represents the first extensive and in-depth review of the public record of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. In doing so, three areas of concern have surfaced: policy, the public-health system's organization and outbreak response, and its communications with the media and the public.

Legal and Regulatory Frameworks Governing the Growing, Packing and Handling of Fresh Produce in Countries Exporting to the U.S.

A number of major countries exporting fresh vegetables and fruit into the United States have modernized food-safety laws and regulations over the past two decades to emphasize preventive measures. The Produce Safety Project (PSP), supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, advocates for improvements in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) oversight of domestic and imported produce through the adoption of mandatory, enforceable safety standards. To provide policymakers with information on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing the growing, packing and handling of fresh produce in countries exporting to the U.S., PSP commissioned a review of those systems in fi ve of the U.S.’s largest trading partners - Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Peru.

IVF, Egg Donation, and Women’s Health

To date, more than one million babies have been born worldwide as a result of IVF and in 2003 U.S fertility clinics reported 112,872 IVF cycles. Although there has been considerable medical literature exploring the possible health effects of in vitro fertilization to babies born from this technology, the potential health risks to the women who undergo this process have been less extensively studied.

Issues in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Plants and Animals

A range of options exists to enhance the regulatory review process to address new challenges future products of agricultural biotechnology are likely to present, although opinions vary about the need for change, according to Issues in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Plants and Animals, a report by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.

Hidden Risks

A checking account is the most basic and necessary financial product for American consumers. Nine out of 10 Americans have a checking account, making it the most widely utilized financial services product in the United States.

View an infographic presenting figures from the most important findings of the report.

Health Impact Assessment: National Nutrition Standards for Snack and a la Carte Foods and Beverages Sold in Schools

Updating national nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in schools could help students maintain a healthy weight and increase food service revenue, according to a health impact assessment by the Kids’ Safe & Healthful Foods Project and the Health Impact Project.

Watch a video examining the impact of updated USDA standards for snack and a la carte foods and beverages.

Harvest on the Horizon

The increasing use of modern biotechnology in agriculture has generated significant debate, much of which centers on the rapidly growing use of food crops that have been genetically modified to make them more resistant to pests or chemical herbicides. As a result, the debate has not usually addressed the potential products of agricultural biotechnology that are on the horizon.

Fees and the Unbanked

The Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project investigated checking accounts offered by the ten largest U.S. banks, which held nearly 60 percent of the nation’s deposit volume.

View an interactive graphic presenting a state-by-state overview of Underbanked or Unbanked households.

Enhancing FDA’s Evaluation of Science to Ensure Chemicals Added to Human Food Are Safe (Pre-Workshop Materials)

The workshop, co sponsored by Nature journal, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and the Pew Heath Group, brought together more than 80 scientists and and policymakers to develop a shared understanding of the current system FDA uses to assess the hazards of chemicals added to human food and explore opportunities to strengthen that system.

Disclosure of Industry Payments to Physicians

This Prescription Project survey shows Americans are eager to understand financial ties between physicians and pharmaceutical industry.

Current Law Provides FDA with Authority to Mandate Safety Standards for Produce

Legal analyses by the Congressional Research Service and by the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University conclude that FDA has sufficient authority under existing law to adopt produce-safety regulations.