The impact of the recent cantaloupe poisoning might well have been reduced, if not prevented altogether, if  the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 had become an active regulation, The Salt Lake Tribune argues in an editorial.

The act, passed in December, ordered the Food and Drug Administration to create a modern way of tracking the progress of produce, meat and other food products through the vast agribusiness maw. But it hasn't happened yet.

The Tribune says the FDA and the food industry should speed up their efforts to design and implement a supply-chain tracking system that can catch tainted food and trace it back to its origins before it has a chance to kill another customer:

Food, whether animal or vegetable, is more and more likely to be grown in one place, processed in another, processed some more in yet another, packaged and repackaged down the line, to the point that it is all but impossible to figure out where a tainted shipment came from until it has already done its damage to both the consumer and to the supply chain.

This is why more consumers are looking for local sources of food, and more supermarkets — from Whole Foods to Walmart — are catering to that market.

Click here to read the full editorial.