Clarence Darrow and food safety

There’s an apocryphal story about Clarence Darrow’s early career that goes something like this:

A man was on trial for biting another man’s ear off in a fight. Darrow was interviewing a witness to the incident, and asked, “Did you see the defendant bite off the plaintiff’s ear?”

“No, I didn’t,” was the reply. Darrow, a young lawyer at the time, didn’t know when to leave well enough alone – after all, he’d made the point – and went on for the dramatic finish.

“Well, then, sir, how did you draw the conclusion that the defendant committed the crime of biting off the plaintiff’s ear?”

“I saw him spit it out,” came the laconic answer, turning a slam-dunk to a rim shot.

What does this have to do with food safety? By example, rather a lot. Continue reading