When Fairfax officials tried to put the kibosh on donations of home-cooked food to homeless shelters, they didn't figure they would, according to this editorial, get egg on their faces. Thankfully, though, common sense prevailed, and a worthwhile program to help the homeless will be allowed to continue. The short-lived casserole crackdown, as reported by The Post's Jacqueline L. Salmon, started with a complaint from a well-meaning citizen questioning the cleanliness of a church kitchen providing meals to the homeless. Instead of simply dealing with that case, health officials told churches and nonprofit organizations that run shelters that unless they had a county-sanctioned commercial kitchen they could forget about cooking hot meals for the homeless. The policy was overturned when Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Board of Supervisors, recognized its absurdity. No doubt he did not relish that Fairfax had become a national laughingstock. Food safety is not a trifling issue -- a fact that too often is brought home only when tragedy occurs. We have no doubt that the zealous officials in this case were well-intentioned. But it is worrisome that they didn't realize that the very thing they said they were protecting -- the public health -- was undermined by their actions. Fairfax boasts that last year it was able to get its homeless population safely through the winter. It did so with the help of many good people. Not to mention some good food.