When government agencies fail in their obligation to provide adequate oversight, is it just an oversight? Are they “out to lunch”? Regardless, such neglect is unacceptable, insofar as it threatens to compromise the health and well-being of the public and to taint their faith in government.

From the Associated Press (via the Boston Globe):

Many school cafeterias rarely inspected

Millions of children eat in school cafeterias that don’t get the twice-yearly health inspections required by Congress to help prevent food poisoning.

Schools are supposed to get two visits from health inspectors every year. But one in 10 schools didn’t get inspected at all last year, according to Agriculture Department data obtained by The Associated Press. Thirty percent were visited only once.

“Do you want to go to a restaurant that hasn’t been inspected?” asked Ken Kelly, attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group that has studied cafeteria safety.

Fewer inspections don’t necessarily translate into more cases of food poisoning — “but it contributes to all the other little things — temperatures, rat droppings — to all those things that could make your child sick,” Kelly said. [full text]