Cheap food not always cheap

By The Gazette Editorial Board

Americans pay less for their food than people in most other countries. Technological advancements and consolidation of producers driven by economies of scale have resulted in mega-size companies that distribute huge volumes of produce, meat and other food items across long distances.

There's reason to be thankful. We consumers have year-round access to a wide variety of foods at relatively low prices. Sometimes, though, the system that provides so much cheap food delivers unwelcome news: Contamination on a large scale. Followed by spikes in retail prices.

It is the price we occasionally pay for relying heavily on what some critics refer to as our “industrial food system.” It's remarkable for productivity and efficiency. But if something goes wrong, the fallout is magnified.

The latest example involves two Iowa companies who recalled more than a half-billion eggs suspected of being contaminated after an uptick of reported salmonella cases. While that's less than 1 percent of the eggs Americans consume in a year, federal officials believe at least 1,300 people have become ill from tainted eggs since May. Wholesale egg prices shot up nearly 40 percent within days of the recalls.

The two companies, Wright County Egg and Hillandale farms, are representative of the U.S. industry's concentration. In 1987, there were 2,500 egg companies, according to United Egg Producers. Today, just 192 companies own 95 percent of the nation's laying hens. If just one of these companies has a contamination problem that isn't detected before distribution, it affects lots of food and people across many states.

Such mega-producers remain largely uninspected, unregulated. Neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or U.S. Department of Agriculture has ever inspected the two suspected Iowa facilities. Nor has the Iowa Department of Agriculture, which said it relies on the USDA and FDA.

The Iowa recalls likely will increase pressure on Congress to pass pending legislation requiring the FDA to inspect producers annually and that companies keep uniform distribution records to make it easier to track contaminated food. Given the increasing concentration of our food industry, more regulation seems inevitable.

Meantime, big producers may step up prevention strategies. Recalls cost them money. Look for more use of salmonella vaccine, which is common in European flocks but much less so in the United States. Or expansion of pasteurization, routinely used to process eggs for cake mixes and food services but much less so for shell eggs.

We also expect the “local food movement” - food produced close to home by small farmers - will see another boost in consumer interest.

All of which may eventually improve food safety and expand consumer choices. Just be ready to pay more for it.