Bad Stuff on My Mind: Salmonella in our Food

You know, it seems as if there are way too many outbreaks of food-borne illnesses happening this year. The numbers reported may not seem huge, but for every verified case there are undoubtedly many more that remain unreported and uncounted.

I haven't eaten this cereal for a few years,
but I used to love it. If you have any on hand,
you are supposed to throw it away!

• The recall last winter of romaine lettuce was what started me worrying: five deaths and around 200 verified cases of e. coli poisoning between March 13 and June 1, 2018, affecting people in 35 states. It's supposed to be over now. (source)
• Salmonella has been found this week in my childhood favorite cereal, Kellog's Honey Smacks -- "73 victims in 31 states for whom the CDC has information."(source)
• Salmonella in pre-cut melons last week infected 60 people, including 32 here in Michigan. At least 31 have been hospitalized. A food processing plant in Indiana supplied the melon to be sold alone or in fruit salads at stores including Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Walgreens and Trader Joe’s. (source)
• 207 million eggs were recalled for salmonella in April in an outbreak now thought to be over. The eggs were distributed in 10 states, and came from a processing and breeding plant that previously had been cited for numerous health and cleanliness violations. (source)
• "During the past few years, outbreaks of Salmonella illness have been linked to contaminated cucumbers, chicken, eggs, pistachios, raw tuna, sprouts, and many other foods." (source)

Ultimately the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are the major (if not the only) institution that protects and informs us about these outbreaks. Their ability to perform identification, tracing, and recalls for food contamination are critical to the well-being of the American public, whether we know it or not. CDC funding has been jeopardized by current politics, and that worries me more than any of the rest of this information. Widespread anti-government sentiment among many voters, objection to any government regulation, and ability of big businesses to buy their way out of oversight add to my worries.