European E. coli Outbreak Holds Lessons for the U.S. Government

by Jeremy Fordham

The European E. coli outbreak has people on both sides of the Atlantic on high alert. Americans have been critical of the way the crisis has been handled, but there isn't any reason to presume that the U.S. government would be any better prepared to handle this particular strain of E. coli than the EU. After all, the U.S. is also dealing with its own, less-widespread strain of E. coli as it is.

While governments point fingers and try to avert blame, the market for produce in Europe is crumbling. The small European farmer is being especially hard hit and some have actually given away 40 tons of potentially contaminated produce. Clearly, the economic effects of this outbreak may be nearly as damaging to Europeans as the human toll on humans. At first German officials blamed cucumbers farmed in Spain. However, tests proved this conclusion to be false. Then a farm near Hamburg took the spotlight, with the likely culprit being contaminated sprouts.

The U.S. and the European Union have similar approaches to food policy. Both have governmental departments that regulate things like food labeling and the traceability of food products. Yet both also have difficulty tracing the source of contamination. However when an outbreak of a food-borne illness occurs, the governments of both countries must take swift and decisive action. This is where the U.S. generally can be seen to have an advantage over the EU. Despite the appearance of cohesiveness between the European nations, the citizens of each country retain a sense of individuality for their homeland. Hence, there are situations where the officials of one country may blame an outbreak on the actions of another country, which can result in a political and economic mess. The U.S., however, possesses more of a true cohesiveness, built over the last two hundred years, which perhaps allows them to bypass the finger-pointing and settle down to the business of finding the root cause of the illness.

How easily could what is happening in Europe happen in the U.S.? The answer is, too easily, and America is not much better equipped to deal with it than European officials. That ought to scare people and it ought to galvanize them to take action. Instead of criticizing the response of European governments, why not learn from their mistakes? Clearly there must be any number of enlightening experiences that could be applied in the U.S. Too often we place ourselves at cross-purposes with our friends across the Atlantic instead of allying ourselves to offer aid, comfort and information.

Jeremy Fordham is an engineer who is excited about encouraging dialogue in unique spaces. He contributes to resources promoting Ph.D. programs and is an advocate of sustainability and green energy.
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