Eating Dangerously: Why the Government Can't Keep Your Food Safe%E2%80%A6 and How You Can

Beginning with a chilling reminder about how contaminated cantaloupe killed consumers in 2011, journalists Booth and Brown of The Denver Post present an eye-opening, authoritative account of the everyday dangers in the U.S. food industry and provide short term consumers solutions safer eating. The authors list spinach, peanuts, and eggs as culprits in recent outbreaks of E Coli, Salmonella and Listeria and explore the causes and consequences affecting Americans. Fred Pritzker, a Minneapolis attorney who specializes in food illness cases, deplores the FDA's "willful negligence" of food safety procedures and of criminal prosecution towards the people responsible. But the government can't anticipate the food fads that create challenges for the 2,800 food-related FDA employees reviewing 350,000 food makers and facilities or the 1,800 FDA inspectors checking U.S. imports. With a lax penalty system and the startling statistic that "[n]early 50 million Americans will get food poisoning this year," it pays to be an educated shopper. The authors' thorough examination leads way to complimentary resources and tips for safer eating. (Mar.)