Gee, who would have thought that gutting public health agency funding and staff while handing over the reigns of the primary agency(ies) responsible for detecting, identifying, tracking and mitigating outbreaks to incompetent lackeys and fools would have resulted in this outcome?

Where is the mythical "hand of the free market" to ensure companies self-policed their products because, after all as we were told, companies would lose business if they sold bad food/products so it behooved them to ensure safe food supply chains without the yolk of government oversight and burdensome regulations?

What I know for sure is that this tip of the iceberg we're experiencing as we descend into the libertarian fever dream of unregulated anything and everything certainly isn't proving the obvious (to anyone with more than two or three functional neurons, atleast...) that regulations and monitoring agencies were created in response to real past problems caused by companies who did require someone looking over their shoulders to do the right thing, right?

Good. Americans are too fat anyway.

#3 | Posted by snoofy

It's mind boggling how bad the food is in the US. I've really had my eyes opened over the last five or six weeks on the difference(s) between food in the US and, at least, in Europe.

There is, of course, the obvious stuff like bread is way better tasting and will actually mold within 2-3 days if not consumed because it isn't loaded up with preservatives. Plus it's made with actual real ingredients of flour, water, salt and yeast.

But there's just the overall feel of eating here. Portions are slightly smaller and you feel a content feeling of being full when done. But never that bloated, uncomfortable full that seemed to last for hours. Not even when I eat at home, making standard meals I made all the time when in the US.

Me and my oldest son had a guy's weekend this past Saturday/Sunday and to close it I made us steak dinners Sunday night. About 5-6 oz per steak plus mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Either there's a substantial difference in food quality here or I got Chinese take out steaks - a meal with typical portions that would have made me feel full through bed time left me hungry about an hour before bed.

I always ate a protein-skewed diet to maintain a slight calorie deficit and maintain weight. In the US, it worked for the most part, but I would have periods of gains that resulted in a gradual pace of weight gain over the last several years. The exact same habits here have resulted in me losing about 15 lbs in five weeks.

It pains me to say it, but RFK had the right answer but apparently the wrong math with the food issue. Too bad he's chosen to gut food safety monitoring while diverting most of his attention to the absolute worst topic he could - anti-vaccine bulls*&^ that has already caused disease outbreaks in other countries he's tried it in.

#6 | Posted by sitzkrieg

Hmmm didn't read far, eh?

Shoppers skipping salad, lettuce at grocery store

Overall, one in 10 households cut back on their spending on lettuce, salad and greens. In states affected by the cyclosporiasis outbreak (with more than 200 cases), per household spending dropped by 10.7%, the research firm said.

"Consumers are pulling back on fresh produce, but our purchase data shows they're not fully replacing it with canned or frozen alternatives, despite nearly half of shoppers saying they would," Numerator analyst Shawn Paustian told USA TODAY.

"That suggests many shoppers may simply be waiting for the outbreak to end " and points to a potential rebound, with 82% of those who stopped buying salad mixes and kits saying they plan to return once it's contained," he said.

Seems to be a very gentle hand.

$40 million for a company that generated $7.3 billion in revenue in 2025.

It's a rounding error that will soon be forgotten.

Until their next outbreak or recall.