Mark Bittman considers this question, which has just become even more reasonable in light of the way the salmonella outbreak from Foster Farms-processed chickens has been handled by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

For those who haven’t been following this story in food safety channels, the contamination has been identified as salmonella Heidelberg, which, as Bittman notes, is “virulent, nasty, and resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.”

The CDC reports 317 cases, and 42% of those have required hospitalization.