I agree with the author. I’ve probably gotten sick from eating at a “mom and pop” half a dozen times, but never once from a chain.
And it makes sense. 10 people get food poisoning from a MacDonald’s, lawyers will be fighting each other to file suit - they smell DEEP POCKETS. 10 people get food poisoning at a Mom-and-Pop, and lawyers won’t touch them - no money to be extracted.
Bottom line - Mom and Pop’s have a lot more ‘latitude’ to screw up, and it shows.
What I think will happen with Mom & Pop restaurants will be failure not by lawsuits, but by lack of business. We've had a few of those come and go in my neck of the woods, and once it gets around that the place is ptomaine's last stand, folks stop going and it eventually closes.
Local tastes tend to drive the cuisine also. A while back, we had a new Thai restaurant open, and being a fan of that type of food, I was one of their first customers! Oh, the food was great - so hot, I was enjoying myself. A friend cautioned me though: "Come back in a week; they'll have toned it down for Americans." He was right, it was waaay milder - sigh. So now, whenever I order from a Thai restaurant, I specify "Thai hot, please."
Same with Indian; I make sure the person taking my order knows I like my vindaloo extra hot!