Barack Obama may be the change candidate but his food safety rhetoric falls into a tired and unsubstantiated pattern.

Obama wrote on Friday in a letter to  Cow Calf Weekly (great reading for the beach),

“America continues to have the safest, most abundant and cheapest food supply in the world. … Beef producers are a key component in a healthy and vibrant rural America. By strengthening USDA and working to enhance food safety and meat processing, my administration will assist the industry in providing a wholesome and safe product to your customers.”

Maybe Barack is using the same PR folks as the Taste of Chicago. And with over 800 people sick from Salmonella in tomatoes and no source in sight, is it really the right time to be making claims about who has the safest food?

Thanks to Kansas State PhD student Charles Dodd for forwarding the item.