Eric Schlosser

About the author: Eric Schlosser is an investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, an exposé of fast-food chains.

America's federal meat inspection laws are not strict enough to protect consumers from food-borne pathogens such as E.coli and Salmonella. Further, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lacks the ability to enforce those laws. Specifically, the USDA has no power to force a meat packer to recall meat even when high levels of pathogens are found in the company's products; recall of tainted meat is strictly voluntary. Often, as in the case of the ConAgra recall in July 2002, meat packers only take action after people become ill. The USDA cannot effectively carry out its dual and conflicting mandate—to promote...