11/15/05 Do you like your news?

How do you like your news? Tempered a little bit, spicy or salty? Take your pick because when it comes to stories about the food we eat deciphering the truth can be pretty dicey.. For one, take the reporting on mad cow. A recent story in the Washington Post claimed that over a period of 17 months inspectors found 1,036 violations of rules in packing plants At first bite that information could warrant ordering a veggie burger, but when you take a closer look at those figures, a juicy steak keeps just keeps looking better and better because that very same story, using the same statistics, could have been written from the perspective that given all the packing facilities in the US and the virtually millions of meat that is processed it is remarkable that the number of volitions detected in packing houses has been less than 1 percent, with absolutely no contaminated meat ever reaching consumers. Virtually the same facts, so how do you take your news? A little hot sauce on the side?