Will somebody please regulate those vegetables?

I edited a story at work tonight about the continuing fallout from last year’s tainted-spinach scare in the United States. It seems consumers are still wary of leafy green vegetables months after spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria killed three people and sickened nearly 200.

According to the article, “Plummeting spinach sales have also prompted the produce industry to seek federal oversight to assure buyers that fresh produce is safe.”

The italics in the paragraph above are mine. When was the last time an American industry cried to the federal government: “Regulate me! Regulate me!”? Business, it seems, wants government off its back except when a government seal of approval can boost the bottom line.

© Peter Rozovsky 2007