Let Them Eat Tomatoes...

As the hunt for salmonella continues, the food industry is getting more and more angry for the $100 million loss in revenue suffered because of the FDA has yet to pinpoint the origination of the outbreak. One grower's association has called for a Congressional investigation into the FDA. From The Wall Street Journal:

The collateral damage inflicted on thousands of innocent producers in this country by FDA blanket 'advisories,' such as with spinach and tomatoes, cannot go unchallenged," said Tom Nassif, the group's president and chief executive, in a written statement.

Industry leaders and consumers are probably even more frustrated with new reports showing that tomatoes may not even be responsible for the outbreak! A growing number of health officials are beginning to suspect that another ingredient commonly found in Mexican food may be to blame for over 800 cases of salmonella in the US from the past month.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the delay in finding the culprit…

…underscores the weaknesses in a government safety net that critics say relies on short-staffed state health departments and turf-conscious federal authorities.

A Congressional investigation may indeed be appropriate.