The good news - the Obama administration realizes that the food system is unsafe:
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told food producers and food-safety advocates that enough is enough.
"We've seen too many large-scale recalls, everything from spinach to peanut products, pistachios, peppers, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts and recently even cookie dough."
Five thousand Americans die from contaminated food each year, she said, and tens of millions get sick.
The administration is directing its agencies to design tougher production standards for marketers of poultry, beef, leafy greens, melons and tomatoes. The Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be designing a national food registry so contaminated food can be traced back to its source, and so consumers can be alerted immediately once a problem is discovered.
The BAD NEWS is that their entire approach is based on the idea that Industrial Processes are OK - it is only the regulation that needs to be applied.
They miss entirely the reality that it is high concentrations of animals. of how and where they are killed, how and where the food is packed and how it is distributed that is the root cause.
A fear is that an unintended consequence of all the regulation is that it may kill the very system that does work - Local small batch short distance food.
