But before you get scared into an unplanned crash diet, take a closer look at those numbers. They are derived from a very small number of reported cases and an estimate about the magnitude of unreported illnesses. There is another reason to be suspicious about the need for a food superagency. The federal government recently unveiled two major new safety programs - one introduced by USDA for meat and poultry inspection in July 1996, and the other by FDA for seafood inspection in December 1997. Now, even before the regulations have been fully phased in, reformers are already back at the drawing board.
Federal regulators continue to chase after smaller and smaller risks.
Proper handling and thorough cooking can kill off most bacterial contaminants, but a public led to believe the government is assuring risk-free food could take fewer precautions on its own. And because pathogens cannot be completely eliminated, such actions could result in an even greater threat to public health. When it comes to food safety, a single-mission superagency could be the biggest threat of all. Gregory Conko is a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Click here to post a public comment on the Trash Talk Bulletin Board.