Is this a natural consequence of the regulators and legislators not really being accountable to anyone? We've seen exactly the same thing with incompetent financial regulation. The rules have large holes in them, provoke the risky practices they claim to prevent and fail to protect consumers. If bureaucrats and retailers/producers were equally vulnerable to prosecution for failings perhaps we'd see both less regulations and better thought out ones.

From a consumer perspective, I expect the company whose name is on the label to do quality control on their product. If I buy Green Giant canned peas at a Publix supermarket, I do not expect Publix to go to the Green Giant plant and their suppliers to verify what goes into those cans. I DO, however, expect Green Giant to do so. And the same for Stouffer's with their lasagna with meat sauce. If their supply chains are so convoluted that they cannot properly track what is coming from where, and randomly sample to verify content, well...

I do support a government role to control some food characteristics. I expect that prime beef in Winn-Dixie will be the same as prime beef at Publix and prime beef at Aldi's. I also agree with a government standard that defines what has to be in a product for it to be called "lemonade". But beyond that, I see no reason for government to tell me that I cannot buy unpasteurized milk, as long as the vendor does not claim that it IS pasteurized. This horsemeat fraud lies directly on the heads of those who did final packaging for sale to the public. They should, of course, be able to pursue back up their supply chain to those who committed the original fraud. But Ikea, Findus, Davigel, Taco Bell, and the rest have MY deepest scorn. The FSA should not be mandted to do any more than random spot checks at point of sale to verify that labeling is appropriate. Nothing against government having meat inspectors that could be contracted by the various companies, but there is no good reason for them to be required across the board.

I think you look again at "due diligence" and how it is administered. At the moment, I think the pendulum has swung too far in removing virtually all retailer liability.