07.25.08
The Fruits Of Deregulation
More from the annals of something for nothing conservatism.
There is no more perfect example of the inanity of GOP rule in our country, Food industry bitten by its lobbying success.
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.”
[…]
“In retrospect, yes, if they (the regulations) had been broader and a bit more far-reaching, it could have helped with this,” said Robert Brackett, senior vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. “It wouldn’t have hurt, for sure.” Brackett formerly was a top safety official at the FDA.
Under pressure in 2003 and 2004, the White House agreed to dilute record-keeping proposals by FDA safety experts.
“If the FDA had been given the resources and authority years ago that it asked for to solve these kinds of problems, I think we would have solved this already,” said William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner.
Or as Atrios calls it Stupidity.
So, the recent salmonella food scares have cost the industry much more than tracking regulations would have cost them. This should have been pretty obvious, as the cost to all producers of such a scare is going to be much greater than the cost to one “bad” producer individually…
What Rick Perlstein calls E Coli Conservatism.