On one of Ned's favorite sites, politicalwire.com, Ned has gotten into trouble for saying that the Food Safety Act being passed by Congress is fixing a problem that doesn't exist. His friends immediately jumped on him, leading Ned to understand that he should have elaborated. His point was that this country already has arguably the safest food in the world, and the proposed Act will basically just allow the feds to mandate recalls, which are now voluntary. Certainly people die from tainted food, but the numbers are hard to come by. The CDC says about 1,800 for sure, but it doesn't say how many are from improperly prepared or handled foods, which Ned suspects represent the lion's share. Compare this to 100,000 that FDA says die from improperly taken or prescribed prescription drugs. Or 400,000 from obesity related causes. Or 100,000 from infections picked up in hospitals.
Or 400,000 from smoking.
Certainly most food borne illness is from industrially-produced foods at large, centrally located facilities that require hundreds or even thousands of miles of transport. Ground meats are a "prime" culprit here, which can be avoided by avoiding ground meats from industrial sources. Eggs are another problem. But eggs have a natural protective skin that keeps the egg fresh without refrigeration unless they are washed, then they must be refrigerated of course. Ned advises his friends to buy eggs in small quantities from local sources. Some pathogens are attributed to vegetables, and again these can be minimized, but not eliminated, by buying from local sources and organic if possible. Keep away from raw milk and unpasteurized juice. Avoid burgers from fast-food joints. Avoid eggs from restaurants.
Ned's point is this: we already have safe food if people use their heads and only buy stuff that is good for you. And you are never going to eliminate risk, even from food.
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