This sounds like an issue with the rules not adapting to a new situation. Overall, while not perfect, the food system in the US at least seems pretty safe. If you suddenly found out tomorrow that some significant fraction of the food being produced was being flagged for some kind of "contamination", that sounds like we don't actually understand what constitutes a risky contaminant. If the presence of some particular bacteria almost never results in illness, then flagging it doesn't seem like a good use of resources.
If we don't think that the rules are able to be changed in response to a changed understanding of the risk profile, then I think I'd agree that yes, it is better not to know, if all that knowing does for us is force us to spend billions to mitigate risks that were going to harm nearly no one.
This sounds like an issue with the rules not adapting to a new situation. Overall, while not perfect, the food system in the US at least seems pretty safe. If you suddenly found out tomorrow that some significant fraction of the food being produced was being flagged for some kind of "contamination", that sounds like we don't actually understand what constitutes a risky contaminant. If the presence of some particular bacteria almost never results in illness, then flagging it doesn't seem like a good use of resources.
If we don't think that the rules are able to be changed in response to a changed understanding of the risk profile, then I think I'd agree that yes, it is better not to know, if all that knowing does for us is force us to spend billions to mitigate risks that were going to harm nearly no one.