Don't Go Federal Nuts Over Those Tainted Pistachios!

From the AP, a story about why we know what we know about those salmonella-ridden pistachios:

Routine but unrequired testing by a manufacturer for Kraft Foods Inc. first detected the contamination almost two weeks ago, when workers at a plant in Illinois decided to check roasted nuts going into huge vats of trail mix. Private auditors hired by Kraft later found problems they think caused the contamination at a supplier's processing facility in central California.

If Kraft had not chosen to prioritize testing, 2 million pounds of pistachios that touched off government warnings and a nationwide salmonella scare this week probably would still be on the market. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor state laws require food manufacturers to test the safety of their products….

Private industry reported the pistachio problem immediately, rather than waiting for public health officials to intervene. And as of Wednesday, authorities had not confirmed any illnesses.

"You can call it a fluke, you can call it good luck, or you can call it good judgment on the part of Kraft," said Dr. David Acheson, FDA's assistant commissioner for food safety. "They're not required to tell us, they did and we're moving on it."

How about just calling it good judgment? Instead, get ready for new, top-down regs and more.

Whole story, via Antiwar.com, here.

Hat tip: Margaret Griffis.