Hospitalizations, Deaths Result From Hands-Off Food Safety Rules

The nation’s top food safety regulator has for decades left it up to manufacturers to decide whether their food ingredients are safe, sometimes with tragic results, a Bloomberg Law investigation reveals.

Last year, nearly 400 people across the US fell ill after eating a lentil and leek meal shipped by the plant-based food company Daily Harvest. Some 133 people were hospitalized, and several had to have their gallbladders removed, government records show.

More than a decade earlier, scores of young adults suffered serious harm and some died after drinking Four Loko, a low-cost but potent alcohol and caffeine drink ...