Despite federal efforts, meat companies and grocers have continuted to sell ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7.

Some parts of the U.S. are "food deserts," where liquor stores may vastly outnumber grocery stores. Now one Detroit group is fixing that by taking fresh veggies to an inner city neighborhood in what looks like a Good Humor truck.

Tests "show that more than 50 pesticide compounds showed up on domestic and imported peaches headed for U.S. stores. Five of the compounds exceeded the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, and six of the pesticide compounds present are not approved for use on peaches in the United States."

When FDA researcher Renee Dufault found residual mercury in high fructose corn syrup in 2004, the FDA ordered her to stop investigating. Mercury is used to make lye -- and lye is used to make the corn syrup that constitutes one in every ten calories that Americans eat.

The rise of cooking shows on TV results from deep interest in cooking. But the transformation of cooking into a spectator activity reflects a decline in actual cooking -- which has vast health and ecological consequences.

"The House approved the first major changes to food-safety laws in 70 years Thursday, giving sweeping new authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the way food is grown, harvested and processed."