Among the many popular tales about elephants are the following:

1. Elephants never forget

2. Elephants love peanuts

Given the size of their brains (let alone their heads), it is easy to give credibility to the elephant's celebrated ability to recall. And I've seen them go after the peanuts. So, are elephants our hope for the massive peanut recall (http://peanutrecall.com/)? Unfortunately, the recall is due to that familiar, nasty pair of villains, Sam and Ella. Combined, salmonella are endangering elephants and other peanut consumers.

As with other recent food recalls, there is actually a lot working correctly. And, truly, credit goes to those responsible for the tainted products coming off the shelf fast and furiously. Damage to the consumer is contained. However, the cost is again much higher than it has to be. With convoluted supply chains and idiosyncratic record keeping, there is a lot of collateral damage to untainted products. Safety is step one. But, in a dramatic economic downturn, the collateral damage leads to more lost jobs, for which there is no surfeit of available replacements. More effective food recall is just around the corner.

Until then, however, food recall is reminiscent of another elephant-related story. The six blind men groping an elephant, separately grabbing the trunk, the tail, the tusk, the ear, the leg and the body. To them, the elephant is a snake, a rope, a spear, a fan, a tree or a wall. Which begs the question, if an elephant went bad (they sometimes do), then should we destroy all snakes? Ropes? Trees?

A forced analogy? Perhaps. But the point is, until we can more directly and efficiently trace raw materials forward and end-products backwards, we're going to continue hitting elephant's tails with snake sticks. And that will, as one can surmise, lead to more painful consequences than bargained for.

Cheers,

Steve