HARMFUL microbes kill 5000 people each year in the US, put 325,000 in hospital and cause illness in 76 million. Given that these figures are bound to underestimate the problem, you might have thought that Washington would be going to great lengths to protect the food supply from contamination. Apparently not. For reasons of history, inertia, turf disputes and just plain greed, efforts to prevent food-borne illness are being blocked at every turn.
Safety would seem to be the least contentious of food issues. Who could possibly not want food to be safe? Certainly not the public. So how…
