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Food contamination with microorganisms
Essay of contaminated food
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Hello Congressmen Fitzpatrick,
As my local congressmen and an upstanding citizen of the United States, I feel it necessary to inform you of a problem that currently affects our country. In 2006, a bill known as Kevin's law was proposed to congress. The law was named after a young boy who died after eating a contaminated hamburger. Although it never passed, Kevin's law sought to prevent contaminated meat and poultry products from entering the food supply. In 2011, a similar law known as the FDA food modernization act was introduced to the congress. This piece of legislation was proposed by congresswoman Betty Sutton and later signed into law by President Obama.
Although food safety has improved, it is still very important that we, as citizens
Tyson Foods has entered millions of homes in America and is seen as a convenient, healthy form of sustenance. This company portrays itself as a family company, that provides safe food for a growing world population; however, it is in fact contaminated and filled with deceit, deception, and fraudulence. Tyson vocalizes that it has the consumer’s best interest in mind, meanwhile its sole interest is its revenue. It manufactures second-rate chicken byproducts and disguises it as a healthy choice for families. It has been discovered that Tyson distributes contaminated foods, injects its products with antibiotics, and abuses its livestock; thus, society needs to prohibit such rancid foods from entering its homes and being fed to its children, and to put an end to the corrupt company’s empirical power.
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.
Genetically modified foods or GM foods are foods that have been changed to improve the size of the product and to progress the efficiency of food production. Genetic engineering can be done on both plants and animals and are processed to make the desired characteristics that are required for selling. Genetically modified food has become a controversial topic because people have different viewpoints on which type of food is better for their health. Many protests were created to ban genetically modified foods because of the harm that it caused to the people and the environment. Although people have different opinions towards this topic, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages in producing and consuming genetically modified foods.
The food industry continues to be a major contributor to health problems in the United States and around the world. Currently, 13% of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in the United States. (Kaplan) Some believe that it is the government’s responsibility to go to educate the people and then to further encourage them to make wise decisions on what they choose to eat. Others argue that it is the consumer’s personal responsibility to educate themselves and make a conscious decision about their food. After all, we have the freedom to do so. No one forces people to buy and eat the things that they do. But it would be naive and even outrageous to say that there are no extraneous factors counteracting a person’s will to make healthy
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 amends the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and
American society has grown so accustomed to receiving their food right away and in large quantities. Only in the past few decades has factory farming come into existence that has made consuming food a non guilt-free action. What originally was a hamburger with slaughtered cow meat is now slaughtered cow meat that’s filled with harmful chemicals. Not only that, the corn that that cow was fed with is also filled with chemicals to make them grow at a faster rate to get that hamburger on a dinner plate as quickly as possible. Bryan Walsh, a staff writer for Time Magazine specializing in environmental issues discusses in his article “America’s Food Crisis” how our food is not only bad for us but dangerous as well. The word dangerous could apply to many different things though. Our food is dangerous to the consumer, the workers and farmers, the animals and the environment. Walsh gives examples of each of these in his article that leads back to the main point of how dangerous the food we are consuming every day really is. He goes into detail on each of them but focuses his information on the consumer.
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).
In America, there are many people who never think twice to question what they are eating. Most American’s simply assume, if it tastes good it must be good. This is unfortunately not the truth. In 2001, a young boy tragically passed away after ingesting meat that was contaminated with the Escherichia Coli bacteria (Metzger). Escherichia Coli is a bacterium that is normal inside of the intestines of most animals including humans, but when it is presented outside of the intestinal tract it can be fatal. E. Coli is spread when cattle are slaughtered and the E. Coli from the hides of the animals is getting transferred into the meat (Daluiso). This bacteria is clearly very harmful to the human body. After the death of this child, his grandma and mother tried very hard to get a law passed that would better regulate the production of food and decrease contamination (Metzger). Kevin’s law is:
McDonalds is one of the most well known fast food restaurants in the world. It is so popular that it sells seventy-five hamburgers every second and is shockingly also the worlds largest toy distributor (Lubin, and Badkar.) The powerful company is an overwhelming influence not only in the worlds economy, but also the worlds holistic lifestyle and health; therefore, McDonalds must be carefully monitored-carefully monitored meaning every move, every change, every single action the company makes needs to be a healthy one. Since the McDonalds business is unbelievably large, it has to manufacture a lot of food, and in a fast food business more in numbers means lower quality. But the food served isn’t lower quality. The food is not even food. It is poison! The chain restaurants food that is sold to the world population contains over 70 cancer-promoting ingredients (Roberts), not to mention it also contains preservatives that are butane-based, bleached flour, and the main ingredient found in silly putty (Breyer). It is clear that McDonalds does not sell food that anyone should be eating; yet, it poisons 68 million people a day, or in other words one percent of the population (Lubin, and Badkar.) 68 million people poisoned every single day. This atrocity absolutely without doubt needs to be stopped.
What the American culture is used to is eating three meals with a few snacks in between a day, and two out of the three meals usually involve eating meat. Most people don’t realize the risks of eating meat. Today’s medical experts say that avoiding meat helps you avoid saturated fat. They have found out from studies that women who eat meat daily have a fifty percent greater risk of developing heart disease than vegetarian women and a sixty-eight percent greater risk in men (staff writer). People may not know about serious diseases meat can obtain such as, mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. In the September 1999 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases, approximately 76 million food borne illnesses- resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths occur in the United States each year from improperly cooked or diseased meat (Licher). That is a lot! You can also get salmonella poisoning from meat. People think that the problems come from eating red meat and are opting for fish over steak, but new evidence proves that fish can cause health problems too, risks that can’t be cooked away. This is a growing problem called histamine poisoning (Peck). Children are learning at a younger age that they don’t like meat, maybe because they don’t like the taste, or maybe it’s because they have a fear of eating their favorite cartoon or movie hero. For example, the pig from the movie “babe”.
There are many families living in the United States who would never consider the food they purchase and eat as an unhealthy. Just about everyone goes to their local grocery store, reads labels and searches for the right items to purchase and feed their families. As parents this is our job, yet what would happen if parents found out the food they were purchasing to sustain life was doing just the opposite. That is exactly what ultra processed food and drinks are doing, because they do not carry the vitamins and minerals needed to keep us healthy. The only thing processed food and drinks are designed to do is make us fat and vitamin and mineral deficient. This is why obesity grows within our children.
The world has seen many changes and advances over the last century, but possibly none that hold as many possibilities as genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is turning up in more and more places, and it is almost certainly here to stay. Just as computers and plastics changed most aspects of living since they were invented, biological engineering has the potential to do the same in the future. This new technology has a wide range of possible benefits, from helping farmers, to improving foods, to helping the environment, to helping sick people. Genetic engineering may even one day be used to help solve world hunger. However, it also has its dangers and risks, which need to be considered along with its benefits. The fact that not everything is known about genetic engineering, and that large corporations use it to make a profit, is scary to many people. The recent technology of genetically engineering crops, plants, and animals, which involves modifying their genetic structure, has lead to benefits for farmers and everyday people; however, there are also numerous concerns due to the fact that the long term results are unknown, the possibility of dangerous accidents, and the danger of increased chemical usage.
The most wonderful activity a human being can experience is new flavors and foods. For example, the first time a person tastes a delicious juicy piece of prime rib or a delightful hamburger with cheese and ham, his world is never the same. However, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the production of food has been supplemented by science. This has triggered an angry dispute between the people who support the advances of biotechnology and people who love nature. In order to understand the controversy, we have to know the meaning of genetically modified foods. With new technological advances, scientists can modify seeds from a conventional seed to a high tech seed with shorter maturation times and resistance to dryness, cold and heat. This is possible with the implementation of new genes into the DNA of the conventional seed. Once these "transgenes" are transferred, they can create plants with better characteristics (Harris 164-165). The farmers love it not only because it guarantees a good production, but the cost is also reduced. On the other hand, organizations such as Greenpeace and Friends of Earth have campaigned against GMO (“Riesgos”) because they think that they are negatively affecting the earth (Gerdes 26). Both the advocates and the opponents of genetically modified foods have excellent arguments.
The debate over whether to keep the production genetically modified organisms, or to cease it all together. They help many countries around the world with low food sources, due to climate and other hindrances. With GMO’s aiding countries in need, it will have a helping hand for the availability of more food. These crops and livestock promote ideal solutions to nutrition, world hunger and the environment. With all that being said, GMO foods are one of the most frowned upon food sources in the world. We asked the question “How Does the Ever-Increasing Need for GMO’s affect the Food Industry in the States, and Abroad?” And what are some of the pros, cons, and ways of containment of GMO’s?
...e bacteria’s have made it across America in their foods (Schlosser 496). The advertisement of large corporations “aggressively market to children” and children can be affected by contaminated meat easier than an adult (Schlosser 496). The rise of the fast food corporations has honesty began the devastation of economic decline in the United States.