A long time opponent to more stringent food safety bills, yesterday Bachmann announced her opinion that new regulations like the USDA’s expanded E. coli tests are putting unjust burdens on food producers. According to Bachmann, these rules force businesses to spend an inordinate amount of money on complying with federal standards when they could be spending that money on expansion. According to Huffington Post, while GOP candidates have often held this talking point for other businesses, Bachmann is the first to use it in reference to the food production industry.

Seems like every week, we get a new outbreak about some kind of contaminated food killing or sickening dozens of people and affecting trade in dozens of states while we spend millions tracking down the source. Yeah, we need to deregulate the food industry, then if people get sick, its their own fault.