In an era of anxiety about the safety and industrialization of the food supply, kosher food-with $12 billion in sales-is big business. Timothy Lytton tells a story of successful private-sector regulation: how independent certification agencies rescued U.S. kosher supervision from corruption and made it a model of nongovernmental administration.
Provides an up-to-date history and analysis of the US food safety system. [The author] pays particular attention to important but frequently overlooked elements of the system, including private audits and liability insurance. [The author] chronicles efforts dating back to the 1800s to combat widespread contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella that have become frighteningly familiar to consumers. Over time, deadly foodborne illness outbreaks caused by infected milk, poison hamburgers, and tainted spinach have spurred steady scientific and technological advances in food safety