<div id="subtitle">Consider food safety as jet-bound perishables are screened for explosives</div><div><p> There are still many facets of American society that should be better secured to guard against terrorism. One pressing need is to check for explosives among the 12Êmillion pounds of cargo crammed into the bellies of passenger airplanes on a daily basis in this country.</p><p>Merely screening passengers and their luggage is not good enough.</p><p>But USA Today reported last week on a predicament that confronts the Transportation Security Administration as it attempts to phase in a 2007 law that requires airline freight to be screened. The problem is how to properly check crates of fruit, vegetables and seafood without running the risk that those perishable items could rot if left stacked up in warehouses as they await screening.</p><p>From a health perspective, there are legitimate concerns about how the food would be handled. Chris Connell, who is in the business of transporting perishables, told the newspaper: ÒYou could have people putting their hands in strawberry cases looking for explosives.Ó</p><p>There is clearly a conflict between the need to make sure that planes do not explode and the imperative of shipping food that is safe to eat. The transportation agency should keep that in mind as it moves forward.</p><p>One agency proposal that manufacturers and distributors should consider is to do more thorough security background checks on all of their employees who are responsible for food packaging. The agency has suggested that this could satisfy the screening process for those businesses that participate.</p><p>There is also a need, though, to make sure that perishable items ready to be shipped are not wasting away in airport warehouses. Many food companies have expressed concern about airportsÕ ability to quickly transport that cargo to waiting planes because of the volume involved.</p><p>The agency faces a tough task but it should see to it that all airports have the personnel and screening equipment necessary to make sure that both airplanes and the cargo they carry are safe.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=65454680&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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