American Food Safety

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On any given day, whether we consciously realize it or not, we elude life threatening conditions. Some of which are an ever present threat to the safety of our food supply. Threats of contamination to the American food supply include factors such as exposure to contaminants during the pre-harvest period, bioterrorism, a lack of safety regulations and inspections, along with many more. The current lack of safety regarding the American food supply is extremely alarming and should be a topic of top priority for the American government, but unfortunately this is not the case. The American government continues to avoid addressing the topic of food safety as much as possible, which includes addressing the major health concerns Americans are subjected …show more content…
From farmers to factories each business must implement new rules and procedures to protect both the product and the consumers. Mark Fischetti states, “Preventing contamination largely comes down to tightening physical plant security and processing procedures at every turn” (1). Fischetti, in this statement, makes a valid point and suggestion. Each company has to make the necessary changes to reduce the likelihood that contaminants will affect their products and cause an outbreak of a food related illness. Although protecting one product will be different from protecting another, there are in fact a few things that could be universally adopted to protect each product in the American food supply throughout the food supply chain (Fischetti). These proposed universal policies include requiring companies to take action in regards to sanitization and be sure to provide their employees knowledge as well as training on how to reduce contamination in the work place. Another measure that should be taken by companies, and corporations alike, is to conduct their own inspections frequently and unannounced. By having frequent inspections the chance of catching contamination before it is further along in the food supply chain is increased therefore the chance of an outbreak occurring is significantly lowered. Conducting unannounced, or surprise, inspections it prevents the inspections, more specifically the results of …show more content…
Every year, one out of six Americans will become sick due to a food-related illness (Drexler). From those who fall ill, 5,000 children and adults will ultimately die (Kimbrell). The rate of the occurrences of food related illnesses, and food related illness deaths, is high and appears to not be getting any better. Therefore, actions must be taken to return the safety to the food supply. It is detrimental that suppliers monitor their facilities and products, if not, products can become contaminated and infiltrate the food supply and the companies and the consumers would not know until a food related illness arises in which case it would be too late to prevent. The quality of all of the inspections conducted must substantially increase, as well as they must be thorough. Inspections should be done often and with extreme scrutiny. If inspections are not done correctly, once again, contaminants may be allowed to slip into the food supply system and reach consumers. Finally, the government agencies should be consolidated into one food safety agency. Having multiple agencies with authority and responsibilities in the food safety system causes confusion in the system as well as holes which can result in accidents and lead to risks of food related outbreaks. It is impossible to completely eliminate instances of food related outbreaks, but reducing the number of food related illness outbreaks occurring is possible and
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