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Essay on food safety management
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What’s the Issue?
In the last decade, there have been numerous outbreaks of food-borne illnesses that that range from mild symptoms to life-threatening situations such as death. Some popular pathogens include salmonella, norovirus, and E. coli to name a few. There has been an immediate need for a proper food safety management system to prevent further illnesses. The severity of these pathogens and the increase of occurrence have led the nation to evaluate the current food safety system. The nations latest food safety management act was the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (FDA, 2014). With increased numbers of food borne illnesses, and a lack of proper food safety management, the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed and passed in the house on January 4, 2011. There were measures that needed to be changed to prevent further mismanagement of contaminated foods.
This brief discusses the many major changes that will be seen regarding food safety management and the potential it has to protect the nation. However, a number of potential issues have been identified and the need for discussion and change will have to be addressed. The FSMA has given a lot of power over to the FDA to mandate food safety and prevention. The FDA has the authority over 80% of the US food supply, whereas the USDA regulates most meat, poultry, and egg products However, the USDA has not been addressed in the FSMA and they are in charge of handling meat, poultry and eggs. Also with all the mandatory regulations and checks for food distribution and too many groups still in charge of managing these entities causes miscommunication and lack of cohesiveness. There is also the question in regards to how this will be funded since there are many mo...
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...e number of inspectors and resources required by the FDA.
Some other equally important changes worth mentioning are the mandatory recalls the FDA has the power to initiate. The FDA can immediately cease distribution of the food (FDA, section 206). FDA will provide the responsible party an opportunity for a hearing within 2 days. A Failure to comply with FDA’s mandates will be subject to civil penalties (FDA, 206.
What’s the debate?
There is much debate regarding the feasibility of this new act. Although it sounds proactive and effective, there are certain gaps that we must look at and discuss in order for this act to become successful. One major difficulty is the deadline imposed on the FDA to create 50 rules, guidance documents, reports and studies within a strict timeframe (FDA, 2013).(http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm247556.htm)
In her book Marion Nestle examines many aspects of the food industry that call for regulation and closer examination. Nestle was a member of the Food Advisory Committee to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the 1990’s and therefore helps deem herself as a credible source of information to the audience. (Nestle 2003). Yet, with her wealth of knowledge and experience she narrates from a very candid and logical perspective, but her delivery of this knowled...
The practice of using misleading labelling that still complies with law has been done for some time. Still, legislation has been moving forward, starting in December 2002 when nutrition labelling was enforced in the Food and Drugs Regulations, which has since been amended in 2005 (HealthCanada). Whilst the government is taking a proactive stance towards labelling (partly due to consumer lobby groups), companies in the food industry are still able to produce misleading and/or uninformative labelling through simple manipulation of the English language and interpretation of law. Below, current legislation will be discussed, followed by company practices and the organic food market.
In 1997, approximately 35 million pounds of ground beef was recalled by Hudson Foods because a strain of E. Coli was found in the food. However, by the time the beef was recalled, 25 million pounds had already been eaten. Schlosser notes that the nature of food poisoning is changing. Prior to the rise of large meatpacking plants, people would become ill from bad food in small, localized arenas. Now, because meat is distributed all over the nation, an outbreak of food poisoning in one town may indicate a nationwide epidemic.
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...
Almost every angle of the food industry can be considered dangerous. It is dangerous to make the food, as a meatpacking job is one that is viewed as having abnormally high risks; however when the food is handed over a counter on a tray or prepared in a family of four’s kitchen, it poses a huge risk to humankind. Foodborne illnesses are all too common and almost everybody has the possiblity of contracting a foodborne illness. These are life threatening diseases that need to be monitored and regulated; therefore the enforcement of government regulations in the fast food industry could potentially save many lives that are lost annually due to the numerous factors that need regulation.
Salmonella is one danger that has caused many effects to consumers. Walsh writes about one incident when an outbreak “from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600,” (Walsh 167). This incident left many people asking the same question, how can we trust the food that we put into our bodies? Salmonella, a type of food poisoning caused by bacteria found on different food types has caused an epidemic because of its domino effect on food and our health. Once one factory is contaminated, that factory could be housing both crops and meat, which is then transferred to our supermarkets and on our dinner tables. ...
To date, new case developments show focus has shifted to narrower claims and stronger approach to surviving motions, such as dismissal, summary judgment and class certification. Moreover, federal, state and local government are beginning to take more of an active role in regulating and enforcing compliance in connection to food labeling. In the coming year, attention most likely will be focused on the FDA and state legislative developments on food labeling claims.
The Federal Drug and Food Administration, or FDA, began in 1906 as part of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The 1906 Act was passed due to a culmination of bills passed that were focused on severe abuses in the consumer market. Laws and guidelines were created by the FDA to monitor food safety. Product manufacturing facilities are inspected to show they are in compliance with these laws and guidelines. The FDA does not, however, test to see if food is safe for human consumption. The manufacturers are responsible for testing food, and then give their results to the FDA for inspection. Unfortunately testing done on food today does not show us the long term effect of new additives and chemical compound. It may take several years for a new chemical or additive to cause side effects...
Pomeranz, Jennifer L. "A Comprehensive Strategy To Overhaul FDA Authority For Misleading Food Labels." American Journal Of Law & Medicine 39.4 (2013): 617-647. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
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.
What is Foodborne Illness? According to a medical dictionary, foodborne illness is an acute gastrointestinal infection caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic, bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. Such contamination was caused by improper food handling, preparation or storage of food. Contacts between food and pests, especially flies, cockroaches and rodents are a further cause of contamination of food. Foodborne illness can also be caused by adding pesticides or medicine to food or consuming or by accidentally consuming naturally poisonous substances. That is why foodborne illness can also be called food poisoning.
The third weakness is the fact that food tests, inspections, and the detection of contaminants are taken seriously only after an outbreak of some food-borne diseases, food poisoning, or deaths. The increase in the number of food establishments or outlets such as cold stores, hypermarkets, and supermarkets reported by the Public Health Director has also made inspection and control mo...
Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue. Governments all over the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. Food borne illnesses are diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. “In industrialized countries, the percentage of people suffering from food borne diseases each year has been reported to be up to 30%. In the United States of America, for example, around 76 million cases of food borne diseases, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year.” (Geneva 2)
Ever since human beings have walked this earth they have been eating food and preparing meals. There really is no exact date as to when man first began to cook their meals but whenever that revelation occurred it would change the way humans look at food forever. Now let us fast forward a few hundred thousand years to the 21st century, these days food safety has become a huge priority at the national level. Many programs and departments have been created to bring the public’s attention to this issue. The most notable agency in regards to food safety is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is responsible for protecting the overall public health of American citizens by regulating foods, among others. More specifically the FDA oversees almost everything we put into our bodies, legally that is. The FDA is responsible for recalling contaminated food, regulating dietary labels, etc . So how does this agency pertain to food safety in the home? The answer is quite simple; virtually everything that the average American will eat for dinner has most likely been regulated by this agency. They are responsible for protecting what we put into our bodies, whether we want to admit it or not, we are trus...
Food safety culture is at a record-breaking high , new and developing dangers to the sustenance supply are being perceived , and customers are eating an ever increasing number of dinners arranged outside of the home (Jespersen , 2012 ) . For food safety to succeed in an organization , the most important element is management commitment (Wilson and Worosz , 2014 ) . Commitment to specific areas is a defining element of a company's culture , particularly orienting and training the employees regardless of their educational attainment . Shifting commitments will change a company's culture (YamagucHi , 2014 ) . One of the ways to influence change is through organizational responsibilities , along with the inherent metrics to measure success . So