Food Safety Bill Coming to a Vote

In Sunday's New York Times, Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser co-wrote this op-ed urging the Senate to approve the proposed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Here are some excerpts from their column:

The bill would, for the first time, give the F.D.A., which oversees 80 percent of the nation's food, the authority to test widely for dangerous pathogens and to recall contaminated food. The agency would finally have the resources and authority to prevent food safety problems, rather than respond only after people have become ill.

The bill would also require more frequent inspections of large-scale, high-risk food production plants.

And if you believe food safety worries are a thing of the past, consider this egg scare, this nut scare and this beef scare -- all within the last 18 months.

Gently Cooked Eggs ... I'm Not Alone

I love eggs. I still remember that ad campaign that ran on TV during the late 1970s. Its tagline was "The Incredible, Edible Egg." I couldn't agree more.

Fried eggs, egg salad sandwiches, omelettes, scrambled eggs . . . you name it, I'm happy to eat it -- and not just for breakfast. But I am a little particular about how my eggs are cooked. I don't like my scrambled eggs or omelettes to be cooked until they are dry; I prefer them to be somewhat moist. Am I rolling the dice on my health?

In this hyper-worrisome world, I suspected that most people were avoiding sunny-side-up eggs simply out of fear that they'd get salmonella. Apparently, I was wrong. Based on an unscientific Washington Post poll of its readers, there are many others like me who are not about to give up eggs that are gently cooked.

Even though the Food and Drug Administration's egg-carton advisory urges the public to "cook eggs until yolks are firm," there are plenty of us out there who are willing to not go quite that far.

Out of more than 3,300 respondents to the Post's poll, 78% said they would eat sunny-side-up eggs. Only 22% said they would not. So, if I am throwing caution to the wind, I sure have a lot of company.