Two years ago, it was the e. coli spinach, this year, it’s salmonella tomatoes. And the list goes on despite us having two different agencies (Food & Drug Administration and Food Safety & Inspection Service) making sure our food is “safe.” Here’s the problem with that setup: There’s overlap and conflicts of interest and poor coordination. We have the FDA inspecting packaged foods and FSIS inspecting the meat. Yet it’s the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine that approves animal drugs. Then, while FSIS is trying to make sure the meat is safe, another agency in the USDA is marketing the meat on behalf of the meat producers. Sketchy. So on the one hand, while the cattle & beef lobbyists push for less testing of mad cow, we’re also contending with the risk that we have seen this disease in our livestock and consuming tainted beef can kill. So is the USDA supposed to protect us or the cattle industry? South Korea isn’t taking any chances.  I believe it was Congresswoman DeLauro who’s started to campaign this idea to create a new food safety regulatory agency that’s strictly protecting the interests of the public. Though, I’m not sure whether the USDA or FDA are interested in letting go of the money & control any time soon.