Topps Meat Recall
Federal regulators are pointing the finger directly at Topps Meat claiming that a Topps Meat factory neglected critical safety measures in a rush to fulfill orders. As a result, thousands of frozen hamburger patties contaminated with E. coli were put in the marketplace. This Topps meat recall, which was the second largest recall in our nation's history, and a spate of recent recalls like it have raised questions as to whether the food industry has been given too much freedom to regulate itself.
Nothwithstanding the debacle of the meat recall, there is some logic to allowing the food industry to largely police itself. In contrast to the pharmaceutical industry where defective drugs and medical devices seem to be an acceptable cost of doing business, given the high profit margins of pharmaceutical drugs, there does seem to be a greater backlash against food companies for putting unsafe food into the marketplace. Topps Meat essentially went from being one of the leading meat producers in the world to going out of business as a result of this meat recall. Certainly, every other food producer will take notice.
