Now that we’re getting personal, think it’s appropriate to share my anxiety with you: Hard to trust either the producer or the inspector these days. We all know the FDA has been taxed to the max with recalls flying all over the place. Not enough inspectors out there to accomplish everything necessary. Now we learn that some companies (Nestle) have not been cooperative with the inspectors. Now that’s ugly!

Just last Friday we said Stop, don’t go near the refrigerated Nestle cookie dough. What has puzzled me all week is that it was fear of E. coli (which we most commonly associate with beef products) and not what I would have expected the warning to be: Salmonella. They are both scary, no doubt about that, but I often think of the problems in different space.

Now today we learn that there is a possibility the whole cookie dough debacle could have been avoided if proper inspections had occurred. Fault for this lack: Nestle’s. Bad form; bad decision.

This week’s recall list has been impressive: alfalfa sprouts, but that is a frequent occurrence. I gave up trusting those little sprouts many recalls ago.  I think they are easier to avoid than ingest unless you know the small farmer and trust his methods.

My earlier favorite recall of the week was the California snack supplier who had repackaged and distributed recalled pistachios. Seriously, I do not make this stuff up. How about the latest beef recall? Or the sausage one? Or, the one that will be coming before I finish typing.

We need monitoring, guidance, attention. The system is broken and needs to be fixed,  but it is a two-way street and not a dead end. Cooperation from everyone is essential.

Our lives depend on it.