Ground Turkey Recall: Why Did It Take So Long?

Tracking down the source of an illness is a difficult, complicated business, and federal officials defended the months-long process Thursday by saying they wanted to be absolutely sure before they asked Cargill to initiate the third-largest meat recall in history. ... Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest believes the government should have told the company – and the public – about the possible outbreak much sooner. ... "Clearly this kind of delay in an outbreak situation is one that puts the public health at risk," DeWaal said. – AP

Dominant Social Theme: Unregulated food providers will make you sick.

Free-Market Analysis: This theme is an oldie; it's been running since Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906. Tales of profit-hungry food companies feeding tainted food to the public have rhetorical power because everyone eats, everyone can feel disgust and everyone has had at least a brush with food poisoning. But it's not government inspectors and government punishers that keep your food safe. It's the desire of food companies to protect their reputations and to keep their customers. Sometimes that means defending a brand name (e.g. Kraft) from any taint. In Cargill's case, it means protecting its relationships with food distributors and retailers. In every case it means that a food provider either is vigilant about quality or it goes out of business.

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