Who has the safest food in the world?
It's a pretty difficult to answer that question -- and it's a trap. 
Yesterday I attended the N.C. Ag Commissioner's Food Safety Forum, where a mix of regulators, industry and academia got together to food safety nerd it up (in a good way). Peanut butter and Salmonella were popular topics as was food safety legislation like HR2749.
One of the speakers mentioned that we "enjoy the safest food supply in the world" in North Carolina, and I thought I didn't realize it was a competition and how would that even be measured? We've written about this statement a lot before, but something I've never thought about is that it provides a false sense of security and doesn't help move towards a food safety culture. I don't get the sense that the "safest food supply" comment leads to increased consumer confidence (but who knows, maybe it does). Talking frankly about food safety risks and how they are addressed seems more important to me. While there are lots (like in the hundreds of millions) of meals eaten in the U.S. every day that don't cause illnesses, there are a few that do.
Another speaker, N.C. Dept of Public Health's David Bergmire-Sweat said something that had much more substance than the "safest food" comment: When an outbreak happens, it's an opportunity to figure out what part of the farm-to-fork continuum failed. Whether it was inadequate prevention measures, or
effective prevention measures being implemented inadequately, it's a chance for food safety risk managers to learn what to do next time to avoid the problems.
The safest food supply in the world is a subjective pissing contest (like saying Winnipeg is the funnest place in the world, I guess it depends on your perspective). What matters more is the food supply isn't safe enough, regardless of location, and those responsible for food safety (whether producers, distributors, retailers, regulators and academics) better be able to demonstrate that they can learn from past outbreaks and address risks, not just say how great everyone is doing.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/admin/trackback/151740
Right on, Ben!
I've heard boasting that Canada has the safest food in the world for so long that I almost gag when I hear it now.
But the feds have changed it a bit - "one of the safest food supplies" is the updated version.