E. coli. Coming soon to a hamburger near you.
The House Republicans approved an appropriations bill last week that
would cut $87 million from the Food and Drug Administration and $35 million form the USDA's food safety and inspection programs.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) explained that the House GOP is okay cutting food safety funding because the food industry “self-polices”:
“Do we believe that McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken and Safeway and Kraft Food and any brand name that you think of, that these people aren’t concerned about food safety?” Kingston said on the House floor. “The food supply in America is very safe because the private sector self-polices, because they have the highest motivation. They don’t want to be sued, they don’t want to go broke. They want their customers to be healthy and happy.”
Just this week, four people, including two children, were sickened by E. Coli in Washington state. But even without some of the high-profile food recalls of last year — including those of salmonella-contaminated eggs and E. coli-contaminated spinach — there is a significant public health justification for upgrading the nation’s food safety system. Currently, one out of six Americans suffers from a foodborne illness every year, with 128,000 of those resulting in hospitalization. Ultimately, 3,000 people die from foodborne illness each year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Seems like McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken and Safeway and Kraft Food count on a strong FDA and USDA to make sure that adulterated foods don't end up in their products, because an e coli outbreak at any of their stores would be a public relations and economic nightmare. And chances are also pretty good that they would very much prefer someone who isn't going to be profiting from the sale of the foodstuffs to them being the watchdog of that.