Muhammad T Siddique Professor C.Alexander
Final Essay
America’s food supply should be monitored by the most advance methods to ensure that the food that the American people eat is safe from the threat of food borne illness. Meat in particular should be of extra concern for the American public because it is one of the most consumed food products in the nation and a food borne illness in meat products has the potential of affecting millions of people. One particular food borne illness of concern is E. coli 0157:H7 which is found in meat and it is a deadly food borne illness that has already threatened the American food supply. The growing threat of food borne illness and the vast potential of many people being affected radical methods may have to be used to meet this threat. A method for addressing food borne illnesses is the method of irradiation.
In Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation’ it discusses the conditions of the meat industry practices in regards to food safety and preventing food borne illness in the American public. E. coli 0157:H7 is a “virulent and potentially lethal foodborne pathogen” found in beef. Beef is a major part of the American diet. An interesting factor that Schlosser point out is that “American meat production has never before been so centralized: thirteen large packinghouses now slaughter most of the beef consumed in the United States” (Schlosser 196). The beef Americans consume is controlled by thirteen corporations, which can be one of the reasons why food borne illnesses have a national potential. Schlosser places an extra emphasis on the increase threat of E. coli 0157:H7 from the fast food industries but he also shows how the threat also rest in the supply line of the meat industry. Schlosser links the corporate fast food system of uniformity to the problem, believes that is has created “an industry molded to serve their needs, to provide massive amounts of uniform ground beef so that all of McDonald’s hamburgers would taste the same - has proven to be an efficient system for spreading disease” (Schlosser 196). The adherence to conformity is one of the potential sources of food borne illnesses when the beef supply is manipulated for corporate interest.
Since control over the production of beef is in the hands of a few corporations the government created a regulatory agency to monitor the meat industry. Laurian J. Unnevehr and Helen H. Jensen’s article “HACCP as a Regulatory Innovation to Improve Food Safety in the Meat Industry” discusses the responsibilities and capabilities of an federal agency expected to address threat of food borne illness in the meat industry. The authors explain that the process that the American beef supply experience from farm to the table has three methods to reduce food borne illness, these include
“CAC standards for performance, e.g., pathogen counts for products at some stage of the marketing channel. Such standards require the product's quality to be monitored, usually based on sampling and testing. In contrast, CAC processing standards achieve improved final product by directly specifying procedures to be followed in production. Examples of contamination control procedures include specific product washing solutions or chill temperatures. A third type of CAC approach is mandatory disclosure of information. While it may be difficult to enforce disclosure of information about microbial pathogens because producers do not always know product safety levels, producers could be required to provide information on any pathogen reduction processes that they use, such as irradiation (Unnevehr and Jensen 765).
According to the authors the CAC process in a method that is used on beef to help ensure that control at all points of the transformation from animal to food is monitored. The introduction of the HACCP is another extension to the CAC process. The authors state that the “HACCP systems establish process control through identifying points in the production process that are most critical to monitor and control… The system can be applied to control any stage in the food system, and is designed to provide enough feedback to direct corrective activities” (Unnevehr and Jensen 765). HACCP method of monitoring and controlling the way beef is product is a method that helps to reduce the threat of food borne illnesses in the American food supply. Schlosser talks about HACCP and he found “that the new HACCP plans are as only as good as the people running them- and that in the wrong hands HACCP stand for Have a Cup of Coffee and Pray” (Schlosser 214). The government approach which is based on scientific methods has faced difficulty in preventing all forms of food borne illness and it comes down to the individual that make the decision during inspections. Regulation must continue to improve method to focus on advance methods to protect beef from E. coli 0157:H7.
In the article “Food Irradiation – The Neglected Solution to food borne illness” by Randell Lutter shows the benefits of using radiation to stop pathogens from threatening the American food supply. The Lutter explains that irradiation is a method that is proven to work, “Irradiation is extremely effective at reducing pathogens. Irradiation of frozen ground meat products with a 7-kilogray (kGy) dose a dose already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-could eliminate Escherichia coli 0157:H7, a particularly hazardous pathogen” (Lutter 2275). The FDA has tested food that is irradiated and has deemed it safe to eat. The method of irradiation provides a new combat to the centralized meat industry and the lack of oversight of government agencies. While irradiation proves to be an answer to the threat of E coli it has many hurdles to jump in order for it to become a publicly accepted method of pasteurization. Lutter identifies one of the many problems irradiation of food has met in the political arena and show that technicalities prevent implementation to the beef market, Lutter states “regulatory agencies have also delayed the benefits of food irradiation by creating a redundant and complicated two step approval process that is avoidable under current law” (Lutter 2275). The fact that the FDA and USDA are at conflict over the process of irradiation shows that the method is controversial. But why is it controversial? It is controversial because the FDA and USDA are worried about how the public will react to their food being exposed to radiation. The issues of labeling and advertising are also complications that arise in introducing irradiation as a method. Irradiation of food is a proven method of preventing various pathogens.
Food borne illnesses is a constant threat to all types of food that is in the consumer market. Irradiation is proven to be safe, it is accepted by the USDA, the FDA, and scientist and there is no evidence of irradiated food being a threat to people. The use of irradiation on the meat used in the fast food industry should be mandatory and inspection of the fast food industries food supply chain must be improved by the government. Since the method is one that has succeeded in stopping E coli and other bacteria it should be implemented to the public as the benefit it is over the misconception the public will have over it.
Work Cited
Lutter, Randall (1999). Food Irradiation-The Neglected Solution to Food-Borne Illness. Science,
New Series, 286, 5448, p. 2275-2276.
Schlosser, Eric (2002). Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial, New York. (Print).
Unnevehr, Laurian J. & Jensen, Helen H. (1996). HACCP as a Regulatory Innovation to Improve
Food Safety in the Meat Industry. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78, 3, p. 764-769.
