(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- Public attention has been focused as perhaps never before on the safety of the food supply as a result of recent high-profile outbreaks of illness linked to various foods.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a rare strain of Salmonella in peanut butter produced at a plant in Georgia between August 2006 and January 2007 sickened 628 people in 47 states.

California fresh spinach contaminated with a pathogenic form of the bacterium E. coli killed three people and sickened more than 200 people in 26 states in late summer 2006.There were two multistate outbreaks of pathogenic E. coli associated with lettuce used in fast-food restaurants and two multistate Salmonella infections associated with tomatoes in 2006.

While the glare of widespread media attention was focused on these human food incidents, at least 16 pets died from the effects of tainted wheat gluten processed in China and blended into pet foods that were sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico under more than 100 brand names.

The resultant calls by the media, the public, consumer groups, and legislators for more oversight of the food supply almost invariably include a clamoring for more inspectors and more inspection.

 …