Shifting demand

Right on the heels of my post about the FDA comes the most lethal bout of food poisoning in some time: the cantaloupes of Rocky Ford. 13 deaths and at least 72 illnesses are truly a tragedy. I haven't seen any reporting about the source of the contamination, but hopefully someone is looking into that. A sad time for consumers and a sadder time for Colorado, where the pain is sure to linger as their good name is tarnished. For Marion Nestle, the issue this raises is why we don't have one central food safety organization: the second link above is to the CDC web page, and of course the FDA and even the USDA are involved with agricultural products. Many of my colleagues would see this as a good reason to cut back wasteful government spending: I agree, but I think this also points out the need for effective, not absent, government.