'Ten Riskiest Foods' List Angers Industry

(MoneyWatch)  The food industry is -- understandably -- pretty upset with the Center for Science in the Public Interest and its "10 riskiest foods" list. CSPI looked at FDA-regulated products (i.e. no meat, which is regulated by the USDA) and figured out that lettuce, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries were the products associated with the highest number of foodborne illnesses since 1990.

Naturally, the Produce Marketing Association, the American Blue Fin Tuna Association and the National Milk Producers Federation are outraged, along with other groups that market products on the top-10 list, which are now pushed into damage-control mode.

"Seafood is a safe and healthy product that is an essential part of the American diet," the National Fisheries Institute said in a statement.

"Potatoes are inherently healthy and are not an inherently risky food and they should not be on this list at all," said the U.S. Potato Board. "The issue is cross-contamination, not the potato itself."

Here's the thing: CSPI was not trying to tell consumers to avoid any of these ten products. The point of the study was to highlight the fact that even healthy foods can be dangerous, and to call for better regulation of these products.

"Consumers can't and shouldn't avoid these foods," said CSPI staff attorney Sarah Klein. "That's why we need the food industry and the FDA to make sure these products are arriving in our homes and our restaurants in a way that's safe for consumers."

The problem is that consumers often don't read the fine print. If there's word on the street that potatoes are dangerous, a lot of people will just avoid potatoes. Health scares don't tend to be rational. Just look at the effect H1N1, aka "swine flu," had on the pork industry.

So it's understandable that food producers would resent their products appearing on a top-ten list of food villains, whatever the circumstances. The food industry actually wants better safety standards, especially for things like produce, and CSPI's study could help that cause -- but I can see why food producers are unhappy with the group's approach.