Over on the Center for American Progress's Science Progress, I have a new story up on the mismatch between the U.S. food safety system that grew out of the response to The Jungle's gruesome depiction of Chicago's meatpacking plants ("...the meat would be moldy and white, stinking and full of maggots.") more than a century ago and the globalized way we eat today, where a fast-food hamburger can contain the beef from a hundred cows and ingredients from around the world. As things stand today, more than a dozen inside-the-Beltway agencies, offices, and bodies with widely different ideas about food safety have jurisdiction over the American food supply.
In the article, titled "Our Fractured Food Safety System," I cover a proposal now pending in Congress to unify food oversight under the roof of a single public health agency, which is the way the EU is trending. I hope you might have a look at the piece. I guess if you have a weak stomach, you might want to wait until after your next meal.
