Sometimes when I speak about safety in the supply chain

Sometimes when I speak about safety in the supply chain, or environmental controls that suppliers and retailers adhere to, that far away look enters peoples eyes as if to say I don?t have time for this. We?ve had scares in the United States this year with beef, chicken, lead in toys, mercury in frog legs, heparin, baby seats, Honduran melons, tomatoes, frozen pot pies, play seats, mini NASCAR helmets, and more.

What concerns me most is there seems to be no outrage. At least no where near the outrage there seems to be relative to the increase in fuel costs?

This does not seem to be the same when other countries look at our export programs. As an example, over eighty thousand South Koreans held a vigil on the street leading to the U.S. Embassy protesting their governments program with the U.S. relative to the safety of U.S. beef imports and U.S. standards for combating mad cow disease.

In a world where so much is beyond our control, one thing we can control is what we eat. Is it to much to ask that it be safe? I?m not sure either one of our presidential candidates would even have a platform issue related to food safety. I?m sure they have an opinion. If a similar percentage of Americans were to assemble in Washington to protest the same issue, we would be viewing a half million people on the nightly news.

Relative to food safety, we need more tools that make it easy for retailers and suppliers to view safety standards for the products they buy and less process and politics to complicate the issue of food safety.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron