The House of Representatives passed the National Uniformity For Food Act yesterday, as predicted. If you're wondering why so many people are alarmed at the prospect of leaving food safety standards up to a federal agency, consider the following story, which broke yesterday along with news of the House vote.

In 2004, a salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 34 people in nine states was traced to ground beef from a national supermarket chain and a single meat processing plant. Yet the Agriculture Department did not bother to demand a recall of the tainted meat, and chose not to alert the public, either.

The Agriculture Department investigated the meat processing plant and “didn't find any problems,” department spokesman Steven Cohen told the AP. Salmonella, unlike E.coli and listeria, is not considered an “adulterant” under federal guidelines, because the process of cooking meat or poultry kills salmonella. Therefore, the Agriculture Department saw no need for a recall.

The tainted meat remained on store shelves from August through October of 2004. Does that disturb you? You might be even more troubled to learn that the government doesn't even have the authority to demand a recall. All it can do is make a request.

But if you don't cook the meat properly, you can get a nasty gastrointestinal illness. Salmonella causes roughly 1.4 million cases of food poisoning annually and can be deadly if left untreated; 400 people die of salmonella poisoning each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Salmonella contamination in chickens has increased 80 percent since 2000. Marian Burros explained why in yesterday's New York Times:

“In the 1990’s, the Agriculture Department established standards to reduce the levels of salmonella in meat and poultry. If companies failed to meet the standards, they could be closed…but the first time the agency tried to close a plant because of persistently high levels of salmonella in its ground beef, the company sued, charging that the agency had no authority.”

The decision was upheld, and salmonella contamination has been on the rise in chickens ever since. Beef, on the other hand, has seen a decline in contamination as a by product of efforts to reduce E. coli. Because government guidelines classify E. coli as an “adulterant,” the Department of Agriculture has the right to seize E. coli-tainted beef if a company does not voluntarily recall it.

But no such right exists when it comes to chickens, so there's less incentive for poultry processors to eliminate salmonella. And, as Burros points out, even if you cook your chicken properly, you can still get salmonella from knives, cutting boards, or ingredients that came into contact with the chicken before it was cooked.

Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has tried five times to pass legislation to give the Agriculture Department greater authority over contaminated meat and poultry. But the Agriculture Department insists it has all the authority it needs.

As you can see, they're doing a heckuva job.