EGGS - We're from the government and we're here to help

The old joke goes something like this: "We're from the government and we're here to help."

The problem is, nobody's laughing.

Two federal agencies are downplaying not noticing anything with regards to the massive egg recall that so far has hit 22 states and pulled back the curtain on government officials.

So far there has been 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning and 500 million eggs have been recalled from two Iowa egg distributors.

One supplier linked to the cases has a history of violations dating back to 1994 -- but the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it never had an inspector dedicated to food safety at the farms.

According to an FDA, the FDA has traditionally been responsible for monitoring egg safety after the eggs are processed and the USDA is responsible for egg safety at the processing facilities.

Translated, this means they have done nothing to assure safety.

A USDA official, said that USDA agencies have had no involvement in food safety regulations over shell eggs. There job was to inspect them for thickness and cracks and other quality assurance factors in order to give them a USDA seal of approval. That approval however, does not certify that an egg is salmonella-free.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said  that the new rules that went into effect last month giving the FDA authority to test eggs for salmonella "very likely" would have enabled the FDA to find  the problem before the outbreak.

She said the FDA will conduct "hundreds" of inspections in the months ahead under its new authority.

President Clinton promised during a 1999 speech that there would be "extensive tests" at egg farms and said there would be an elimination of egg-based salmonella cases by 2010.

That never happen.

There are those who believe the FDA probably had some authority to inspect egg farms but just didn't do it.

The truth is, food safety has not been a major concern here.

We have this company repeatedly violating laws and no one was doing much about it.

We told you the egg counting will continue.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday more egg recalls most likely will be necessary in the face of salmonella outbreaks. The new recalls, if they are issued, would be the largest egg recall in recent history, more than half a billion eggs.

But We Like Bottled Water

There was a four year study of 103 brands of bottled water where one-third contained levels of bacteria or carcinogens that exceeded purity guidelines, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reported.
"Bottled waters do not generally pose a major public health threat", said study author Erik Olson, "most water is free of contaminants."
The suggestion here is, water in a bottle doesn't mean it is any safer, purer or better than water that comes out of your tap.
A lot of us have believed that bottled water contains no chlorine or harmful chemicals, the study found that fluoride, phthalate, trihalomethanes and arsenic, a known carcinogen, can be found in some bottled waters.
There is some concern about the presence of bacteria in bottled water that might pose health concerns with some infants, the frail elderly, some chemotherapy patients and others with weakened immune systems.
As a food product, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and required to show nutrition information and ingredients on its labels. Municipal water is under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The two agencies have similar standards for water quality, but the FDA has less authority to enforce them. water.

The FDA has yet to set standards for DEHP, one of several chemicals known as phthalates that are found in many household products, while the EPA limits the presence of phthalates in tap water.
Community water systems must distribute annual reports about their water's source, contaminants and possible health concerns.

After all is said and done we probably will continue to drink bottled water, simply because it tastes better.