Note To The FDA
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
So I'm in an airport one day this week and I go to the deli/bakery in the food court…great looking sandwiches there. I order turkey. You want lettuce and tomato? Yes I want lettuce and tomato. But is the tomato safe? For that matter is the lettuce?
I look around at the other diners. No one is holding their stomachs….no one is calling for a paramedic. Still I wonder….where did the tomatoes come from? Seems like a stupid thing to ask about…..would the people behind the counter have any idea?
More than a thousand people have been affected by Salmonella in the last couple of months presumably from tomatoes. A thousand cases out of three hundred million people isn't bad. Chances of my getting sick are pretty darned low.
Still the FDA doesn't really know where the Salmonella comes from and there are new suspicions that the crud might really be hanging out in jalapeno peppers. Note to the FDA. Figure this out soon. What ever credibility you've built up over the years is quickly disappearing.
By Harry Smith