Recall Relapse

An E.coli outbreak has resulted in a huge recall of produce in Germany. The pathogen at large is a new strain of E.coli, which has been found to be resistant to 14 varieties of antibiotics. But will consumers change their habits when faced with frightening facts? If history is an indicator, the answer is no. Good recently collated sales information for beef and spinach, two of the largest food recalls in US history, and found that consumers returned to their normal purchasing habits in surprisingly short time periods following the outbreaks.