Not so much farmers as underfunded FDA found guilty in food safety quagmire

Since most food-borne illnesses over past decades have been caused by pathogens largely linked to meat, like salmonella and E. Coli 0157, only the tiniest fraction of FDA resources have gone to researching and regulating food safety issues related to fresh produce. In fact, less than one percent of fresh produce imported between 2002 and 2007 was FDA inspected.

But fresh produce has increasingly become a source of these deadly contaminants, and critics point to the need for a regulatory makeover. The FDA is now set to hire 150 more inspectors and scientists and to establish pilot “rapid response” teams. Full story: The Washington Post