The Door In Question Is Still Ajar

"Not to sound trite but you need someone to sue."

Those are the words of Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler. (Read Tom Karst's post below.) And as long as the FDA & CDC are leaving the door ajar a tiny crack regarding the perceived culpability of tomatoes being the cause of the salmonella outbreak, Marler is going to stick his shiny legal Oxfords in there attempting to keep it open.

And that's the problem. Acheson & the FDA, bolstered by the CDC, continue to play Mickey the dunce about the far-reaching economic & psychological effects of not clearing tomatoes completely, choosing to cover their tails instead. That's the government working for you, my friends. You don't have to work for Lehman Brothers to get the scroogie.

But...I have to tell you, something's not right with the tomato market. The Midwest was hit with 6 to 9 inches of rain over the weekend, and then it moved across Lake Michigan into southwestern Michigan tomato country. Logically, one would think that its bumper crop, probably the nicest Michigan tomatoes in my 30 years in the business, would have taken a hurtin' & we'd have a stronger FOB California market as a result.

Not a chance. If anything, it's a little weaker. Which brings me back to the perception. At least in the Midwest, the backyard crops have been immense. Folks around here had been getting their 5-A-Day on tomatoes alone. So when it comes time, like now, to start having to buy them in the stores again, and if the salmonella question is still being bandied about, it's more than Houston that has a problem.

Later,

Jay