What biological weapons would a terrorist use?
Botos: That’s a little too difficult to say. It depends on the operating capacity of the terrorists – what they can get their hands on. The objective of the terrorist is to create fear and panic. That’s why the processors are looking at their facilities and products. How would people know if there has been an attack on the food supply? Botos: The food industry has always been proactive. Adding food security issues is an additional component. If we had an ordinary food recall, we would alert public health departments. But along with that, we would now alert the police and FBI. This is just an added layer. You would specifically be looking for a criminal. If it were just a case of salmonella, the police wouldn’t be involved. Is there a way that the industry could detect a contamination before it got to grocery stores? Botos: It depends on the agents. Packages would bulge, the food would have a funny smell. Food processors routinely check for this. I personally think we would catch it lon
