Faster than you could say “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” restaurants and grocery stores began yanking Roma and red plum varieties off their tables and shelves amid a nationwide outbreak of salmonella.

Illinois is not immune. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than two dozen Illinoisans have been confirmed with the strain, putting this state’s sick tally behind only Texas and New Mexico.

Let’s not panic, but let’s also hope this stops.

It seems every few months there’s a major food recall. Pot pies. Ground beef. Scallions. Spinach.

Is it because we’re getting better at catching foodborne bugs or because something’s up with the food supply? Both. On the one hand, public health departments are working with doctors and hospitals in testing for and isolating particular strains, grilling patients about where they’ve been and what they’ve eaten.

But yes, something’s awry with the way the U.S. safeguards its food supply.

There are fewer eyes on our food. Between 2003 and 2006, FDA inspections dropped nearly 50 percent, according to an Associated Press analysis. Critics point to fewer in-the-field inspectors and a lack of funding.

On the private side, food manufacturers are outsourcing — paying other companies to make some ingredients, then selling stuff under many brand names. Also, food industry groups have gotten better at fighting regulations. A perfect example is country-of-origin labeling laws, the implementation of which grocery and food processing lobbyists stalled for six years.

The U.S. may brag the world’s safest food supply, but this loosey-goosey approach will come back to bite us, as public confidence dwindles.