The New York Times
Published: June 4, 2011
By: Jeff Benedict
THE E. coli outbreak sweeping Europe is the deadliest on record: 18 people have died and there are almost 2,000 reported cases in nine countries.
While Americans have been following the disaster through news reports, few of us feel threatened. After all, we took steps to protect consumers against E. coli poisoning after the infamous 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak that sickened 750 children and killed four. We haven’t had a comparable outbreak since.
But it would be a big mistake to assume that all is well when it comes to the American food supply and E. coli. On the contrary, the precarious situation we are in today recalls our mind-set just before the 1993 outbreak: naïve complacency.
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