Protecting the food supply

Seattle Times: Fears and frustrations with federal food-safety laws ignore party lines. President Obama’s pledge to attack systemic problems were greeted with genuine bipartisan support.

Obama describes years of failure to act as a “hazard to public health.” He vows to modernize food-safety laws, expand and toughen inspections and infuse the whole process with new leadership, more money and scientific rigor. The president formed the Food Safety Working Group to “upgrade our food-safety laws for the 21st century.”

Sick, disabled cattle

A quick, emotional shorthand for the problems at the Food and Drug Administration is the failure to keep sick or disabled cattle out of the food supply. Five years ago, a Washington state case of mad-cow disease reignited passions about bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

But a look back at that period is a grim reminder of the broader stakes and the absence of credible progress by the Bush administration. Mad-cow disease was in the headlines, but salmonella, E. coli, listeria and campylobacter were making America sick.

Obama promises a tougher look at farming and food manufacturing. That means going beyond meat and poultry and looking at fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs and fish. The complexity of the food chain takes amazing twists and turns.