What are we doing about the dangers of imported food?

THE WEEK magazine ran a summary of the information that purported to answer the question: "How worried should we be about our food supply?"

Anybody who eats should read this article from the June 22, 2007 edition. The gist of it is:

How much food does the U.S. import? - A massive amount, some of it bearing salmonella, E. coli, banned antibiotics, and industrial chemicals.

Doesn't the U.S. inspect food imports? - Only a small fraction.

How much contaminated food gets in? - Literally tons.

Why is the food from China so worrisome? - China food production is virtually unregulated. "Food processing plants typically draw water from sources contaminated with sewage or industrial waste, and few factories require workers to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Chinese produce farmers often fertilize their crops with human waste and spray them with dangerous pesticides."

What is the U.S.doing about this? - Much of the tainted food gets through.

Should we just ban food from China? - That's not going to happen. "U.S. trade officials and domestic food manufacturers warn that any ban on Chinese food imports would invite retaliation by China."

So what can be done? - It's up to retailers, presumably, since government won't act to protect citizens. "Wal-Mart requires its foreign suppliers to meet U.S. safety standards. Kraft Foods and retailing giant Costco require suppliers to list the origin of all the ingredients that go into their processed foods. “In the absence of a good food-safety system run by the government,” says Costco vice president Jeff Lyons, “we supplement it with our own.”