Spinach blues.

In the Great E. coli Outbreak of '06, tainted spinach caused some 200 cases of E. coli poisoning, including 100 hospitalizations and at least four deaths. That was followed by a Salmonella outbreak from restaurant tomatoes that sickened another 200 people.

I hope that these tragic episodes didn't lead people to stop eating fresh greens, which are among the healthiest foods. But I hope that they will persuade policymakers to implement long-overdue changes in how the government tries to keep our food supply safe.

Money is one issue. Though the Food and Drug Administration oversees the safety of 80 percent of the food supply, it receives only 38 percent of food-safety funding. Most of the rest goes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is charged with inspecting every meat and poultry processor every single day. In contrast, FDA inspectors visit manufacturers of the foods it oversees (primarily fruits, vegetables, and dairy), on average, once every five to ten years!

Moreover, by next year, the number of staff in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition will have declined by more than 20 percent since its peak in 2002.

Beyond money, the FDA needs greater authority. For a start, the agency should be able to inspect farms. How else can it help the produce industry figure out how to keep potentially deadly germs out of our salad bowls?

The FDA should also have the authority--as should the USDA--to recall contaminated foods, rather than having to rely on voluntary recalls. And it should have the authority to inspect foreign farms and processing plants, just as the USDA certifies the safety of foreign meatpacking plants.

Finally, it doesn't help that foods are regulated by two different agencies. It makes no sense to inspect a salami factory every day, but a dairy plant just once a month ... or once a year. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut have introduced the Safe Food Act, a far-reaching bill that would create a single, independent food-safety and food-labeling agency.

That way, the feds would be able to shift staff to where the risks are greatest and would have greater power to prevent food-poisoning outbreaks. Unfortunately, the FDA, the USDA, the agriculture committees of Congress, and the food industry like things just as they are.

Unless something changes, people will quickly forget about the Great E. coli Outbreak of '06. They'll have the Great E. coli Outbreaks of '07 ... and '08 ... and '09 to worry about.

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Center for Science in the Public Interest