Lettuce...

The culprit turned out to be E. coli, a powerful pathogen that had contaminated romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona, and distributed nationwide. At least 210 people in 36 states were sickened. Five died and 27 suffered kidney failure.

The same strain of E. coli that sickened them was detected in a Yuma canal used to irrigate some crops.

For more than a decade, it’s been clear that there’s a gaping hole in American food safety: Growers aren’t required to test their irrigation water for pathogens such as E. coli. As a result, contaminated water can end up on fruits and vegetables.

After several high-profile disease outbreaks linked to food, Congress in 2011 ordered a fix, and produce growers this year would have begun testing their water under rules crafted by the Obama administration’s Food and Drug Administration.

But six months before people were sickened by the contaminated romaine, President Donald Trump’s FDA – responding to pressure from the farm industry and Trump’s order to eliminate regulations – shelved the water-testing rules for at least four years.

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jthomas666 said:

Dirty Farm Water

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CharminTide said:

Ah, sounds like the issue was too much government interference. #freethemarket #libertariansagainstmeatinspectors

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92tide said:

i think the real culprit here is the media for not informing people that it could make you sick if you eat produce irrigated with poop water.

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uafanataum said:

While I am totally against Trump "shelving" water testing procedures, I find it funny that we should need regulations to prevent people from using dirty water. The government does not tell you not to alot of stuff. However people somehow make through their daily lives without accidentally killing themselves or others around them from doing stupid stuff. Why then do businesses need to be told to do such common sense stuff?

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uafanataum said:

While I am totally against Trump "shelving" water testing procedures, I find it funny that we should need regulations to prevent people from using dirty water. The government does not tell you not to alot of stuff. However people somehow make through their daily lives without accidentally killing themselves or others around them from doing stupid stuff. Why then do businesses need to be told to do such common sense stuff?

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UAH said:

Industrialized farming with run off from cattle, hog and chicken growing operations that are adjacent to streams or aquifers insures that irrigated food crops are under constant threat of contamination. In previous cotton growing areas of Alabama it is often the case that well water cannot be utilized on food crops due to DDT contamination many decades after the pesticide was banned. Any knowledgeable prepper will tell us that food and water quality (in some areas) will become a constant threat.
Not meant to sound like a know it all but I believe strongly that food security is going to become more and more of an issue.

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92tide said:

i hope this post isn't like a bat-signal for ddt cranks.

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uafanataum said:

Why then do businesses need to be told to do such common sense stuff?

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jthomas666 said:

Why, indeed. [Bodhi trigger alert] Shouldn't the Invisible Hand shield us from such folly?

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