Here's the short version.
The food industry spent millions of dollars to lobby the Bush administration to gut the record-keeping regulations that the FDA wanted to make it easier to track foods from farm to consumer.
Now here's the thing. If the original regulations had been in place, they would have saved the food industry far more than it would have incurred to follow them, because the recent salmonella scare could have been resolved more quickly.
From the article:
One of the worst outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it."
The industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and government reports reviewed by The Associated Press.
The White House also killed a plan to require the industry to maintain electronic tracking records that could be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source. Companies complained the proposals were too burdensome and costly, and warned they could disrupt the availability of consumers' favorite foods.
Now my question is this: Is this a good example for those who argue that government can never work and everything, including oversight, should be left to private industry? Or is it an example of why we need the government to oversee private industry?
Discuss.
