What do Food Safety and the Anna Karenina principle have in common? I just know that question is on many of your minds today, so I will answer it.

The first sentence in Tolstoy’s great novel Anna Karenina is “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Change a few woods and you have “Safe foods are all alike; unsafe foods are unsafe in their own way.”

Bacterial pathogens, viral pathogens, parasitic pathogens, adulterants, mislabeling, lack of inspection, allergens, antibiotic and other residues, prions, feathers, broken bones, Clostridium. Any one of those makes a product unsafe, and there are many more. Amazing we aren’t sick more often.

This is my tenth year of blogging for Meatingplace.com, and I have a few things on my mind. So, pardon the random nature of this blog —it’s going to be a bit of a potpourri.

First of all, the FDA STILL has not told us where the Romaine that was contaminated with E coliO157:H7 came from and where it was sold that sickened well over one hundred in two countries and has killed one. Thank God we passed the Food Safety Modernization Act; just think how bad this could have been without that feel good bill.

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue was in town the other day and did not even offer me a cup of coffee or a beer. Maybe he is too embarrassed that my old chair is still empty. Just kidding.

Speaking of empty undersecretary for food safety chairs, I am flying down to Lubbock, Texas in a few days with several things in mind.

First, I want to visit a bit with Dr. Mindy Brashears, President Trump’s nominee to be the fifth under secretary for food safety.

Secondly, I hope to tip a pint with my old friend Dr. Guy Loneragan.

Thirdly, I will make a presentation to students and faculty on food safety, and what the real numbers are, not those inflated ones used by people and groups that do not want us to slaughter animals for human consumption. Title is Figures Lie and Liars Figure: Perception vs. Reality in Food Safety.

But most importantly, grilling season is here, and I love the Texas Tech Red Raider grilling spices and my bottle is almost empty. Guy promised me he would get me another if I came to Red Raider land. (I played high school sports in Loup City, Neb., and our mascot was the Red Raider, so we might have a discussion about which school has had the mascot the longest.)

And lastly, speaking of being sick, I want to thank Meatingplace readers and editors who contributed to my daughter’s Walk MS team that walked in rainy, cold weather last Saturday and has raised over $22,000 so far this year to fund research for new Multiple Sclerosis medications.

Thanks Perri Doutre, got yours in the mail today. Thanks John Munsell, Rita Jane Gabbett, Jason Jennings, Mack Graves. You are all very much appreciated.

Anna Karenina and food safety

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