Getting Zapped - Money and Food Supply

According to reports, Regulators shut down Columbian Bank and Trust Co. of Topeka, Kan. on Friday, the ninth bank to fail this year and fifth since July 11. (WSJ). The GSEs will not be allowed to fail. We have to wait and see how many more bad bets will be paid by the public taxpayers.

On the food side, NYT reports that "The government will allow food producers to zap fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce with enough radiation to kill micro-organisms like E. coli and salmonella that for decades have caused widespread illness among consumers." What is disconcerting is that the FDA is also considering a change in labeling regulations-

"The government has long allowed food processors to irradiate beef, eggs, poultry, oysters and spices, but the market for irradiated foods is tiny because the government also requires that these foods be labeled as irradiated, labels that scare away most consumers........

The F.D.A. is considering a proposal to weaken or change this labeling requirement, a move that Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, opposes."

More efforts upstream in the food supply chain, like better farming methods and reducing fertiliser and toxic chemical use, can reduce the need to take reactive measures downstream, like radiation or recalls.