Thursday, October 27, 2011

Food Safety is a Shared Responsibility

Recent outbreaks of Listeria in Colorado cantaloupes and salmonella contamination of eggs and lettuce in California and the Midwest are fueling the fires of controversy that have many asking about the safety of U.S. food products.

Add to that the growing number of Latin American imports of fruits and vegetables and widespread media coverage of food safety issues internationally, and it makes for an escalating crisis that has consumers, growers, packers and distributors on the same page when it comes identifying and correcting weak links in the U.S. food safety system.

But a close examination of recent food contamination reports may bring to light a more sobering conclusion. It appears that regardless how diligent and careful the food industry may strive to be, and in spite of new food safety regulations imposed by the FDA through the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), contamination of food products is an issue that refuses to go away.

“For one thing, the lofty goals of the FSMA may be for the good of all, but the law was created without any budget to support it,” says John McClung, President of the Texas Produce Association. “What good is a law or regulation that can’t be enforced?”

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4th, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from contamination response to one of prevention at the industry level. But critics like McClung argue food safety and contamination issues go beyond the farm and processing plant and require understanding and compliance all the way from the farm to the consumer’s kitchen.

“Nearly a third of all food borne illness is caused by the consumer. They way food is handled and stored and washed and the way it is prepared or underprepared plays a major role in food safety, and while the food production industry must be responsible in minimizing the chance of contamination, the responsibility can not stop there,” McClung says.

He is quick to point out that the food industry plays a major role in preventing food contamination and must continue to be interactive in control and management. He says farmers and processing plants invest millions each year to acquire and implement the latest in new technologies and procedures designed to reduce infection and contamination. But he warns that is not enough. And with the introduction and regularity of imported foods in the U.S. market, the challenge of preventing contamination and disease is increasing.

USDA-ARS scientist Robert Mangan agrees. Mangan is an entomologist and coordinator of the Kika de la Garza Sub-Tropical Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, Texas, located just a few miles from nine international bridges linking the United States and Mexico. Tons of agricultural products move between the two countries each day including vegetables from Mexico and cantaloupes from Central America. Mangan is considered one of the leading experts on food imports from Mexico and Central and South America.

“It’s a misconception to assume that fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America are less safe than domestic varieties. In truth, licensing and permits for Mexican produce plants are the same as they are in the United States. We are just as likely to find food borne contamination in domestic produce as we do in imported varieties,” Mangan said. “The majority of problems we are seeing relative to food safety include problems in storage facilities, in shipping and distribution networks, at retail outlets and in consumer homes. There is no one person or industry to blame.”

McClung says we may be hearing more about food safety these days than ever before, but the problem has always existed. He contends there are fewer problems on the farm and in the packing houses than ever before because of better education and regulation. But he and Mangan agree that microbial infections in food are very common and widespread and are difficult to prevent.

“It’s a problem we can not escape and one in which we dare not lower our guard. But by-and-large industry is doing a much better job today than ever before,” McClung says.

Mangan warns consumers to be ever mindful of washing fruits and vegetables and cleaning up afterwards.

“A little Clorox and water will go a long way in greatly reducing problems like Listeria and salmonella. It’s something we need to keep in front of the consuming public as much as we do food producers and suppliers. Only then will we see improvement in the safety of our food,” Mangan adds.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think about the safety of the foods you buy even at times when there has not been recent media coverage of a food contamination outbreak? For example, would you think about the safety of buying cantaloupe if there had not been coverage about the Listeria outbreak?

2. What importance does food safety have compared to all the other problems surrounding food across the country (food insecurity, lack of nutrition, GMOs, etc.)? Keeping in mind that many diseases are difficult to prevent and food safety is better today than it has been in the past, should we keep spending more money on food safety regulations of farms and processing plants or should we focus our efforts on the other problems surrounding food?

6 comments:

  1. 1. I never think about the safety of foods I buy when there isn't a food contamination outbreak. It's not even on my radar. I've asked several of my friends this question, and they've given me the same response. I think that this ignorance is very telling: Consumers just expect the food that we buy from stores to be safe for us to eat. This assumption can be dangerous, though.

    2. This is a tough and very complex issue. It would be hard to tell the mother of a kid who died from eating contaminated lettuce that we need to be spending less money on food safety. Within the food safety realm, I agree with many of the article's academics: That perhaps we should start focusing our efforts on consumers as well. They need to be educated on how to store and prepare food properly. But I do believe that other issues such as food insecurity and hunger may not receive as much attention as food safety (perhaps because the causes and effects are not as clear-cut?). This is a huge problem. As discussed in class, I think we need to start tackling the problem of food insecurity and hunger that is so pervasive in EVERY community.

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  2. 1. I do not think about where I get my food from and what has gone into making it such as preservatives and other things. During this class, it has caused me to think about that more and think about what kind of people produce the foods. When I eat food I just think of it as nourishment or the act of filling my stomach. Because of this class it causes you to think about the possible illnesses or diseases that could be caused from these foods.

    2. Food safety is important. The sanitation of food and keeping diseases away from the consumers of food as much as possible is very important. Education in the food safety arena is the best way to keep food safe and make people think about what they are putting into their bodies. With education more people will be aware of the possible problems with food and will make sure to keep food safe and keep unwarranted diseases that could be prevented from foods from entering our bodies.

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  3. 1. As a person who has had an unfair share of food poisoning, I am constantly thinking about the safety of my food. Anything that looks dirty, old, or mishandled is immediately out of the question for me. And, of course, I wash everything before preparing my food and prepare it properly.

    2. The issue of food safety is just another part of the larger question of food facing our country. You can try to provide proper nutrition for everyone, but it won't do much good if you supply people foods that will make them sick. We have to remember that even though many food diseases originate with the final consumer, proper handling of food by producers and transporters, to name a few, due to government guidelines has saved countless lives. To lessen the degree of safety regulations on food would be a huge mistake.

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  4. 1. I tend to not put much thought impossible danger of the food I eat. If there is a an outbreak I am much more wary. I have spent some time in Peru eating some very questionable food that was not at all properly cleaned or sanitary. I was a little paranoid about germs before my time in Peru, but have have since generally shrugged off any concerns.

    2. Food security obviously plays a role in everyone's life, and therefore should be taken seriously. However, I think hunger, and food insecurity can be truly devastating. I do not think we should have less food safety regulations then we do now, but I would hesistate to say we need to pour more money into making them even more strict. For the amount food that is produced and processed everyday, it seems as though the actual chances of there being a contamination are relatively low. We are one of the strongest nations in history, I think having people groups suffer from hunger day in and day out is just not right. I would love to see our government have more efforts focused on ending hunger for everyone in our country.

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  5. 1. I personally don't think at all about food safety issues like this, unless I hear it in the news. I don't go grocery shopping too much as is, but even when I do, I have to admit I feel a sort of distance from that kind of stuff, even though I know I'm just as susceptible to getting sick as anyone else.

    2. Food safety goes hand in hand with the monoculture, factory farming, centralized agriculture we have today. The more we grow things in bulk, the more susceptible they are to dying or getting sick and leaving a lot of people on the hook in terms of illness or hunger. We need to focus on this kind of issue all of the time, but it becomes so much more important the more we insist on having our agribusiness model, especially.

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  6. I always check to see if something has high fructose corn syrup in it, but never really think about food contamination. I always cook meat thoroughly and feel safe because of it. I didn't even know about the cantaloupe scare. I need to keep up with the news more, for my own health! Like I said in my comment about factory farming, I feel like the return of smaller, family farms would fix many of the problems our country has.

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