From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

How safe is America's food supply?

Hello again, I'm Orin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Recent reports of chemical and biological contamination have raised troubling questions about food

safety in the globalized economy. America imports four times as much food as it did 10 years ago,

but a reduced staff of inspectors can look at just 1% of 9 million shipments from overseas.

Just this week, meat products from Georgia were recalled because of botulism and e-coli bacteria were found on California produce just last year.

On to the point, wherever it comes from, how safe is America's food?

How do consumers know what to buy?

On reporter's notebook later on is the European Union paying

ransom to Libya. First, here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Mormon Alany, back with To the Point. Recent health scares have involved food imported

from Mexico, India, and China, but the latest recall involves meat products from Georgia.

On To the Point, wherever it comes from, how safe is the food supply? Do U.S. agencies have the

resources they need to protect consumers?

On reporter's notebook, Libya will be rewarded for releasing Bulgarian medics held for eight years.

Did the European Union give in the blackmail? First, this news update. The White House and

Congress are closer than ever to a constitutional showdown. The House Judiciary Committee has voted to

issue contempt citations against two of the

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