Illness from eating contaminated food isn’t the number one threat to our national well-being. But just like any medical problem, the costs associated with treating these illnesses hit poor Americans the hardest.

credit: YODCOX!

Until yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wasn’t allowed to recall tainted food. All they could really do was ask businesses to voluntarily recall their e.coli-burgers.

But President Obama just signed a bill into law that gives the FDA much more power to monitor food safety. They’ll be able to issue mandatory food recalls, inspect facilities more often, and tighten regulations on the riskiest fruits and vegetables (like spinach).

• The law will cost taxpayers $1.4 billion over the next five years – but health care costs related to contaminated food add up to tens of billions of dollars every year.
• One out of every six Americans gets sick from contaminated food each year. 180,000 are sick enough to go to the hospital, and 3,000 are sick enough to die.

credit: Mike Licht

* Popular candidates for e.coli and salmonella include peanuts, eggs, and produce. (Twinkies are still safe, though you will eventually end up in the hospital if you replace your fruits and veggies with them.) Meat and dairy are also good candidates for disease, but because they’re monitored by the Agriculture Department, they won’t be affected by the new law.

Best Quote:
“Fiscal responsibility does not necessitate abandoning or neglecting the need of American consumers for safe food.” – Tom Harken, the Democratic Senator from Iowa who sponsored the bill