thinking outside the box Food Safety Regulation

Report on this week's food safety hearings in Congress..from the SF Chronicle

"One thing is clear: The sprawling U.S. food chain, now delivering a billion meals a day every day, is no stronger than its weakest link. And there are plenty of weak links.
"The one great certainty," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota, "is that there will be a next time, and it could be as soon as tomorrow."
The exact source of the outbreak is still unclear. The rare Saintpaul strain of salmonella has sickened 1,304 people, although many more probably were affected. More than 250 were hospitalized, and two, an elderly man and a cancer patient, died. The outbreak has slowed, but the investigation continues, focusing now on serrano and jalapeno peppers from two widely separated farms in Mexico.