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The Hamburger That Paralyzed Stephanie Smith

3,242 views · Published 2 July 2010 · 3:42 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: FORA.tv · 2010 · News & Politics

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/05/20/Michael_Moss_Inside_the_Food_Industry

Michael Moss reflects on his Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times piece on Stephanie Smith, a young woman who contracted a paralyzing food-borne illness from a hamburger. Her tragic story, he says, served as a powerful narrative to shed light on the flawed ground beef inspection process.

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Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Michael Moss shares his insights gained while uncovering some of the food industry's best kept secrets.

Moss just won the Pulitzer Prize for his investigation of lapses in food safety surrounding contaminated hamburger meat. Moss traced the sordid history of one hamburger that left a 22-year-old woman paralyzed from E. Coli. The day after Moss' article ran in The New York Times, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak launched a review of all department meat safety practices. Moss was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for his work on the lack of protective armor for soldiers and Marines in Iraq.

Moss discusses his work to uncover hamburger and other food-safety issues, as well as other nutrition-related issues, from the White House's war on obesity to an exploration of salt, sugar and fat in processed foods. Moss also comments on the financial future of investigative reporting in a world of cash-strapped newspapers. 

Michael Moss has been a reporter with the investigations group since joining The New York Times in 2000. In 2010, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for his investigation of the dangers of contaminated meat.

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