It isn't just hamburgers and E coli that I make money on. It is physical hazards and the Campy and Salmonella in all kinds of food.

But HACCP does work, and in 6 years since Denny's started really doing my HACCP with the cooks, they have not paid out a penny for a foodborne illness case. They are not perfect, but they have a simple menu and a lot of what they serve is made for them and cooked already. So the design of the menu and menu items is a big thing in food safety.

I would be interested in whether you think food you eat in restaurants in Europe/UK is safer than it is in the US and why. They don't use thermometers any more than we do but they do wash hands a lot better.

I think mothers do a better job of teaching kid cleanliness and to prepare food safely in the rest of the world than parents do in the US today. They certainly don't have much if any manager certification training and their regs are poor and patterned after the FDA and cooks don't pay any attention to them. But cooks are professional and have very clean kitchens. I think if we focus on teaching parents and kids simple food safety, we will get safer food a lot faster than trying to change the FDA and USDA. Have you trained your children how to protect your health when they cook for you and your wife at home, or when they eat out? We have always had a thermocouple in our kitchen and my kids grew up using them. My kids today all have families, but can't cook meat or poultry with out the thermometer I gave them when they got married.