Amy was asking me about something speculative and that I said trying to predict such things was a mug’s game.

The language professor asked, what’s that?

A foolish, profitless or hopeless undertaking.

Predicting U.S. allotments for federal agencies is an endless mug’s game that I choose to ignore. I have enough trouble dealing with what’s going on today. Others thrive on that stuff.

The Washington Post has a story today about a putative boost in funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration agreed to by Congress (but not the Senate or the President) that I will ignore but does have a couple of juicy quotes about food safety.

“I mean God forbid to have another recall like this. . . . It just froze the market,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, chief executive of Fresh Del Monte Produce in a call with analysts this month. He was talking about the 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in spinach.

God doesn’t have a lot to do with it. He or she or they probably have other things to do than micromanage outbreaks of foodborne illness or help you make that crucial putt on 18.The vast majority of foodborne outbreaks are not acts of god, they are the result of individually minor food safety mistakes in a culture that relegates food safety to a paragraph in the annual report that, over time, synergistically accumulate eventually making people barf or die.

The story notes that major recalls linked to foodborne illnesses exact real and reputational costs by shaking consumer confidence, but fails to answer the question: would listeria-in-cantaloupe, salmonella-in-peanut crap, E. coli in leafy things have been prevented by a stronger FDA?

Doubtful.

I’m all for a regulatory presence that is consistent and evidence-based, farm-to-fork. But that ain’t going to do much for people who will be barfing after eating food today.

Scott Faber, a vice president at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said, “At a time when some industries are trying to handcuff their regulators, the food industry is advocating for a stronger regulator with more powers and more resources. … We’re competing with manufacturers all over the world. Maintaining and burnishing FDA’s reputation helps us open doors in those markets.”

Sounds nice but the responsibility to produce safe food lies with the producer, processor, retailer, restaurant, whoever is dishing it up. An industry group wanting more government oversight is also saying, we give up, it’s your problem.

Those that care about safe food will stop wasting their time with government and get on with it; then brag about it; then capture more market at retail.

The rest is a mug’s game.

Instead of picking the melons and supervising a work crew, Dora and David Elias of Mendota, California – the cantaloupe center of the world -- were unemployed — laid off along with hundreds of others as the cantaloupe listeria outbreak traced to Colorado rippled across the nation.

Associated Press reports the pangs were particularly felt here in the top cantaloupe-producing state. Sales of California cantaloupes plummeted, even though their fruit was safe to eat. Farmers abandoned fields. Farmworkers lost jobs.

"We can't sell the fruit," said Rodney Van Bebber, sales manager for Mendota-based Pappas Produce Company. "Retail stores are taking cantaloupes off the shelves, and growers are disking in their fruit because people are afraid to eat them."

Federal officials quickly isolated the contamination to Jensen Farms in the Colorado town of Holly, which recalled its cantaloupes in mid-September. The tainted cantaloupes should be out of stores now because their shelf life is about two weeks.

But farmers said the outbreak's source mattered little. In recent weeks, Van Bebber fielded more than 300 phone calls from customers asking whether his cantaloupes were contaminated. This despite the fact that the company has put California stickers on every piece of fruit; that the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board sent letters to customers informing them that California's crop is safe; and that supermarkets have put up signs explaining that California cantaloupes were not part of the recall.

Growers are making similar efforts in Arizona, the second-biggest cantaloupe-producing state, where the season has just begun.

Cindi Pearson of Santa Rosa Produce in Maricopa, Ariz., who started harvesting 3,000 acres of cantaloupes last week, is labeling fruit with Arizona-grown stickers. She has placed laminated

"I say we should just quit," Van Bebber said. "There is no reason for us to keep picking."

California-grown cantaloupes have never been linked to any foodborne illness outbreak, Patricio said. In fact, growers here funded research that helped refine their food safety practices. California and Arizona growers — who share a similar desert climate — have limited the use of water when growing cantaloupes by minimizing irrigation (it's turned off several weeks before packing), field packing the fruit and no longer dunking cantaloupes in water to cool or sanitize the fruit.

 It’s not hysteria when 21 people die from cantaloupe.

And the most important point for cantaloupe growers struggling with reduced sales linked to a listeria outbreak happens about halfway through a Denver Post article today:

“A federal report, expected in the next few days, may clarify the outlook, said Mike Bartolo, a Colorado State University vegetable crop specialist based in Rocky Ford. Meanwhile, CSU has been designing experiments to determine the best protocol for food safety after the Holly contamination.”

"Until we've got all the facts, we don't know how to attack it," said Michael Hirakata, whose family has grown cantaloupe here for more than 80 years and supplies major buyers such as King Soopers. "I don't want to go forward without knowing how to prevent this from happening."

In the wake of what some in Rocky Ford call "listeria hysteria," growers wrestle with how to reclaim their good name.

Experts traced the bacterial strain to a farm nearly 90 miles and two counties away in the town of Holly. But that operation labeled its cantaloupe with the Rocky Ford name — a practice that rankles some locals — and health officials initially warned the public away from any melon produced in this sweet slice of the Arkansas Valley.

Talk has begun anew about precisely defining the growing region and vigorously guarding the Rocky Ford name, whether by trying to trademark it or create a certification for its melons. Disagreement among farmers over boundaries could be an obstacle.

Grower Bill Sackett, who owns a produce stand on the east end of town, took out a paper bag and scribbled a crude map. Then he circled an area bordered by Fowler on the west and La Junta on the east — his definition of where true Rocky Ford cantaloupe originate.

"Myself, I'm going to advertise with that circle," said Sackett, who opposes any certification process that brings more government into the mix. "And I'm gonna tell people that they're good, they're safe and they're nutritious."

Growers already employ practices designed to prevent foodborne illness, but the listeria outbreak could trigger a campaign to document and publicize those measures to reinforce public trust.

Good. Market food safety. And compile the data to back up any marketing claims.

Meatingplace reports the foodservice unit of Hormel Foods is launching an advertising campaign to publicize its use of high-pressure pasteurization on its deli meats.

The campaign contrasts the company’s pre-sliced HPP-treated deli meats to those sliced on premises, which can introduce listeria to the product via slicers that are not properly cleaned and sanitized.

The campaign is aimed at foodservice operators, and markets Hormel’s TrueTaste technology, stemming from the company’s use of HPP equipment installed in its plants.

The campaign is “designed to inform and educate foodservice operators of the potential food safety risks associated with deli meats,” the release says. “High-pressure pasteurization is the most effective way to eliminate dangerous foodborne pathogens such as listeria from sliced deli meats—without any compromise in flavor or texture. The technology also helps extend shelf life.”

The campaign includes print ads and a website that includes a video HPP demonstration and links to additional resources.

Now take it to the next level and advertise direclty to consumers; market food safety at retail so people can choose.