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Essay on food safery standards
Importance of food safety hygiene
Importance of food safety hygiene
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“There are … responsibilities more important than making sure the food our families eat is safe” (Joe Biden). The vice president of the United States does not consider food safety important. The government food agencies such as The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), do not do enough to ensure our safety from food. Our standards of ensuring food safety have dramatically dropped due to government food agencies not doing enough to protect us and making new rules and regulations to hard for food producers. To give background on the FDA and USDA for better understanding the USDA is responsible for meat and poultry, while the FDA is responsible for dairy, seafood, and vegetables. The USDA was founded in 1862 to encourage food creation in the United States (Sherrow 15). Dr. Peter Collier was the first person to suggest rules and laws for the safety of our food (Sherrow 15). Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act in 1890. The Act made the USDA inspectors inspect all pig products (Sherrow 15). In 1906 the Comprehensive Meat Inspection Act was passed. The act assigned inspectors from the UDSA to the United States’ 163 slaughter houses. In the slaughter houses the meat needed to be inspected before and after slaughter (Sherrow 15-16). The FDA is also responsible for protecting food from terrorists and anyone who wants to try to harm the public (Wilson). The FDA oversees 167,000 farms in the United States and 421,000 worldwide farms. The FDA only has 1,100 inspectors to inspect those farms (Wilson). The number of inspections done by the FDA went from 4,573 in 2005 to 3,400 in 2006 (Sherrow 34). According to the Center of Science in the Public Interest the FDA has no authority for prev... ... middle of paper ... ..." Washington Post. (2009): n. page. Student Research Center.23 Jan. 2014. CNN Wire Staff, . "USDA recalls beef headed for Georgia school lunches." CNN. N.p., 24 Sep 2011. Web. CNN. Cone, Tracie. "USDA, McDonald's suspend slaughterhouse buys." USA TODAY. USA TODAY, 22 Aug 2012. Web. 23 Feb 2014. "Food Safety Facts and Figures - Home Food Safety." Home Food Safety. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Web. 23 Feb 2014. Sherrow, Victoria. Food Safety. New York: Chelsea, 2008. Print. Tirrel, Meg. "FDA Delays Food Safety Regulations." Claim Journal. N.p., 20 Dec 2013. Web. 23 Jan 2014. Wilson, Jacque. "Who is Looking Out for Your Food Safety?." CNN. CNN, 08 Oct 2013. Web. 23 Jan 2014. United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Contingency Staffing Plan for Operations. 2013. Print. .
The beginning of Meat Inspection Act seemed to be at 1904, after “The Jungle” of Sinclair published. In fact, it started twenty years earlier, the regular law, used to satisfy Europe, the largest meat export market, but in 1865 Congress passed an act to prevent the importation of diseased cattle and pigs. Because of disease, European like Italian, French, and English restricted or banned the importation meat, and they turned to another supplier. Some bills were introduced but they failed to gather sufficient support. May 1884, Bureau of Animal Industry was established, it was doing good job in fighting Europe restrictions, helping the packers, but not helping the domestic consumers. March 1891, the first major meat inspection law was passed; some country removed the prohibitions on importing American pork. It distressed the European packing industry as well. So, they imposed more standards. Government had to do more action; major percent meat slaughtered was inspected. Some of companies exploited the law, but most of them, especially big companies agreed with the committee in 1902. In 1904, Smith, who was a great information aid to Sinclair, published a series of articles in The Lancet...
...se Slaughterhouse In New Mexico Gets Go-Ahead From USDA Officials." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 June 2013. Web. 5 May 2014. .
The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was an attempt to regulate the meatpacking industry and to assure consumers that the meat they were eating was safe. In brief, this act made compulsory the careful inspection of meat before its consummation, established sanitary standards for slaughterhouses and processing plants, and required continuous U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of meat processing and packaging. Yet, the most important objectives set by the law are the prevention of adulterated or misbranded livestock and products from being commercialized and sold as food, and the making sure that meat and all its products are processed and prepared in the adequate sanitary and hygienic conditions (Reeves 35). Imported meat and its various products are no exception to these conditions; they must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards.
as Americans we have to be conscious of the foods that we eat that come from the different livestock. Everything that is not a vegetable comes from some form or another of livestock and sometimes we have to wonder; where is the food coming from? If you asked any five year old he would say “the grocery store”, however as consumers we have to be knowledgeable of the foods we put into our bodies and have good faith that they are coming from quality sources. the cattle industry and government to safeguard the food that we eat. There are already many standards in place, but are they enough? How can we increase the quality of these standards What do we need to be mindful of that decreases the value of these standards What are some of the actions being taken by private industry to ensure quality? Is the government taken the same actions to keep the American consumer safe?
Most of us do not think twice about the foods we pick up from the supermarket. Many Americans have a preconceived belief that the food being sold to us is safe, and withholds the highest standard of quality. Certainly, compared to many places in the world, this is true. But is the United States sincerely trying to carry out these standards, or have we begun to see a reverse in the health and safety of our food- and more explicitly in our meat? Jonathan Foer, author of “Eating Animals” argues for reform within the food industry- not only for the humane treatment of animals but moreover for our own health. Although Foer exposes the ills within the food industries in order to persuade readers to change their diets for the better, his “vegetarianism or die” assessment may be too extreme for most Americans. The true ills do not start with the meat, but with industrialized production of it through methods practiced by factory farming.
Most people do not spend their days wondering where their next meal is going to come from, but as the economic situation gets worse and jobs get harder to find it is becoming an every occurring issue in the United States today. Not only will some of us have to worry about with what money will we buy our food, but now we will all start having to worry about where our food is coming from and is it safe for us to consume. We are moving toward a safer tomorrow every day by regulating certain parts of our food supply system. No matter how long it takes, it is clear that there is always opportunity for improvement in making our Nation healthier and safer.
The meat packing industry in the U.S is one of the top industries that make an example of bringing corruption to new heights. According to the article “Corrupt American Food Industry is too powerful”, the meat packing industry obtains far more power than what should be acquired. The people of America have the right to know what process the meat they are consuming goes through in order for it to sit in their refrigerators. The American people should have the right to know what kind of cruel difficulties come into play when it comes down to the meat industry. The largest meat packing industries make their money by slaughtering animals, and harming living beings behind closed doors. “Welcome to the land of the free, where we consider prioritizing money over clean resources and human and animal welfare” (Ray1) is used to demonstrate the way the meat packing industry within the Unites States operates (1).
The FDA can and should change the way they test and market items that are potentially dangerous. Every person should have the right to know what they are putting in their bodies. Food should be about supporting a healthy body and not a healthy wallet. Cutting corners and adding food that causes long term health issues is more expensive than using dangerous chemicals in food.
"There is absolutely no question in my mind that we not only have the safest food in the world, but we have the safest food supply the nation has ever known," - Jim May
The FDA most definitely has the important task to assure U.S. citizens the availability of safe food and drugs. This importance was realized by the men that worked toward moving it into legislation. The resultant agency continued to enforce its policies consistently into the modern century without a loss of momentum. However if the FDA is impaired by means of a governmental shutdown then it is of great importance to continue the consistency in food and drug standards that it holds. Standards that hold great importance today like the standards of the FDA’s initiation.
At this point, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has started increasing regulations for prepared foods, however, only a few years ago they had some vague laws concerning these foods and companies could get away a lot more than they can now. One of the reasons for this was that the FDA was more concerned about the certain effects store bought food had on people and were less concerned about misleading labels on packaging. However, they seem to have become more aware of the fact that a lot of companies are tricking consumers into believing that their product is the best, and the FDA has started to regulate companies that have misleading advertisements.
The government should play a huge role in assuring food safety in the food industry. Government agencies are responsible for setting food safety standards, conducting inspections, ensuring that standards are met, and maintaining a strong enforcement program to deal with those who do not comply with standards. State and federal inspectors do not require the peanut industry to inform the government of salmonella contamination in its plants. The government simply doesn’t know what’s going on in these plants. The state of Georgia on the other hand is extremely underfunded and only has 60 inspectors to monitor 16,000 food businesses. The state of Georgia needs to tighten its food safety net. Georgia should prevent Delectables from selling contaminated products, otherwise a salmonella breakout will lead the state to an even bigger revenue deficit. The Government should fund Georgia so they can hire more inspectors to better handle these problems. It is also important for the government to stress the importance of social responsibility to companies like Delectables. As we saw in the Malden Mills case from class, Aaron Feurerstein, CEO of Malden Mills, was a patriot for social responsibility. He felt that it was his duty to take care of his employees to rebuild Malden Mills for the City of Lawrence. Delectables needs to make a commitment to work with employees and their families as well as the local community and society as a whole. Self-regulation is voluntary and is typically framed as a socially responsible industry practice that has consumer welfare as its central feature. A well-grounded self-regulatory system has distinct benefits: it conserves government resources and is less adversarial, more flexible, and timelier than government regulation. Risk occurs when promises are not fulfilled because of weak standards or ineffective enforcement, allowing companies to continue to serve their own interests at the expense of consumers. In the Delectables situation it is
Food safety is a quite hot topic and important public health issue all over the world. Food-borne disease can cause serious harm. Millions of people suffered from diseases and even died because of having unsafe food.
First off, The government of the United States of America is ultimately responsible for keeping our foods safe. Many of the Presidents of the major food companies also obtain government jobs. When a problem occurs with food and a food has to be recalled a change has to be made. Someone comes up with a law to make sure that the problem does not occur again. The government evaluates the law and either passes or denies it. The type of foods that we buy from the grocery store were pre evaluated by the government. I think the reason why most foods are unsafe and are still being obtained by local residents is because the major food companies work and make deals with government so
Food is an essential part of our daily lives. We are reliant on food to give us the vital nutrients that our cells need to survive. Everyday our bodies utilize energy, and that energy is replenished by us eating food. It provides us with the energy to wake up every morning, go to work, and come home and tend to our families. Access to safe and nutritious food plays a major role in sustaining life and maintaining good health. Now if we are so reliant on safe food and the energy it gives us, then why is the problem of unsafe food and the unsafe facilities it is coming from so large? “Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases-ranging from diarrhea to cancers.” (WHO) Although