[Publius6961]

All that begs the question. There were equally nasty bugs then; malaria had just been defeated and polio still loomed over everyone. The means to deal with those was proportional on the medical end.

All dealt with sans nanny government involvement.

[durasell]

Right. Good examples. A lot of people died.

However, things have also changed:

A)Untold millions of people now flying global, country to country. The world is simply more mobile.

B)Our supply chain for food is now infinitely more complex and international to a much greater degree.

C)We are consuming more products from an ever increasing number of sources.

Also note, the FDA was strengthened significantly in the late 1930s after Massengill marketed an over the counter sulfa drug that had the unpleasant side effectof killing people. Today you see the same thing with Tylenol -- the company has been fighting the FDA idea of warning labels for years. You see, if you take Tylenol after drinking you could very well blow out your liver. People die every year from mixing Tylenol with liquor.