Reducing the Risk There are a number of success stories that provide hope and show us how international food production need not mean increased risk of contamination. Costa Rica made sanitary production of fruits and vegetables a nationwide priority. Produce is packed carefully in sanitary conditions; frequent hand washing is compulsory, and proper toilets are provided for workers in the fields. Such changes have so made Carmela Velazquez, a food scientist from the University of Costa Rica, optimistic about the future. "The farmers we've trained," she says, "will become models for all our growers." In Sweden, too, progress has been made in s reducing the occurrences of foodborne disease at an early stage. Swedish chicken farmers have virtually eliminated salmonella from their flocks 10 by diligently cleaning up their chicken houses and by using chicken feed that has undergone heating to rid it of the dangerous bacteria. Now the chickens that Swedes buy are salmonella-free. The success of these pioneers suggests that it is indeed feasible for companies and farms to produce safe and sanitary food, while still turning a profit.