Pulitzer-winning Seattle P-I reporter Andrew Schneider is already known to many in the public health world: He broke the Libby, Montana story,  and tracked the asbestos problem across the country. With fellow P-I reporter Robert McClure, he revealed the environmental devastation from mining on public lands in the West. He started writing about the dangers of diacetyl before it was cool, and stepped up (when OSHA wouldn’t) to investigate the potential diacetyl exposure of restaurant cooks.

Now, Andrew Schneider has launched a blog, “Secret Ingredients,” at the Seattle P-I. Here’s his reason:

The type of investigative reporting that I do often takes months to complete – first to learn how much I don’t know, then to figure out what to look for and then to find it. It takes scores of interviews and sometimes several thousand pages of documents and I love it.

But often after the intricate puzzle is complete, there is a pile of pieces left – interesting bits of information that further explain what we found, or how we did it, or the background on the people I wrote about.

I’m hoping this blog will allow me to share some of this information, and some of the reactions to the stories.

His recent stories on diacetyl and on a study measuring pesticide markers in local children eating organic and conventional produce prompted many questions and suggestions from readers, he explains, and a blog will be a good way to continue the exchange. He concludes:

My hope is that “SECRET INGREDIENTS” will show you that we expect to be held accountable and that the information highway goes both ways. We write for you. You tell us what you know and what you want to know.

So check it out, bookmark it, add to your RSS feeder – it’s sure to be interesting.