Should We Be Afraid of Our Food?

The cyclosporiasis outbreak that has garnered so much attention in recent months is unquestionably bad news. People have been sickened in at least 48 states, and the number of lab-confirmed cases—about 17,000—represents only a fraction of the number of people who have been infected by the parasite. But as foodborne illnesses go, a cyclospora infection—most likely caused in this instance by the consumption of iceberg lettuce contaminated with human feces—is relatively mild: unpleasant but rarely…