Letter: Make sure salad bars are safe

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001 | 8:27 a.m.

A little Scripps Howard news item printed in Friday's Sun, "Officials work to guard food supply," should alert food-and-beverage managers in the casinos of this international city to monitor their popular salad bars more closely.

I suggest an extension of the eye in the sky to guard the purity of those open containers -- greens, veggies, toppings, salad dressings, fresh fruits and desserts -- just as carefully as they monitor the other green.

If such is not immediately workable, the establishment could whip out their digital cameras, visit their friendly printer and include colorful menu inserts depicting seasonal delights to whet the appetites of patrons. Printed letter-number codes in the box of each picture would accurately tell food servers what to write on the ticket for artful assembly by the chef's staff.

They might top it off with a tiny American flag skewered atop an upright Enduring Freedom pickle.

Our agriculture department's described firewalls at customs inspection points would be aided by such measures extending their concerns for the purity of foods from the field to the table. Tommy Thompson, our nation's health and human services director, might even relax a bit.

Alert American ingenuity will always close the gap, foiling terrorists who threaten to tamper with our food, making us afraid to enjoy the freedom of an evening on the town.

VIOLA GARRISON COTA