Recalls, Chickens, and Eggs, Oh My!

By now, most have heard about the largest egg recall in U.S. history due to Salmonella contamination. At this writing some 1,300 people have been sickened and estimates are there is a nearly 40:1 ratio of cases not reported versus those that are.

My family gets our eggs from a local farm by way of my wife’s co-worker because the sale is convenient, not because we have any illusions that they may be safer.

We should perceive food safety risks and teach it to others quite differently than we do now. If a person assumes anything they put in their mouth is completely safe they are ignorant or delusional. No inspection, business, or farming system can absolutely guarantee food safety. It’s up to us to choose wisely, prepare properly, and use sound hygiene practices—but we don’t emphasize that much in schools any more. It’s also up to us to accept some risk for what we eat. And, it’s up to us to understand that occasionally you may get ill but in all likelihood you will be unable to truly determine what made you ill and a large number of folks will blame it on, “something I ate.”

I’m not an apologist for unsafe food or bad production practices and I have true sympathy for those who suffer food or water borne illnesses. What I am is a realist when it comes to risks associated with foods. I support increased oversight and inspection but only to a point because there is always a point in statistical sampling where to acquire that last three percentage points or so in safety assurance becomes astronomically expensive for little in return. Oh yeah, we’ve trivialized or eliminated math and stats classes, too.

We simply must get over our ignorance of risk and the zeal to find someone at fault for every negative event in our lives.