Alex Donley, a 6-year-old boy who had a heart many, whose smile could cheer a saddened soul. A boy who was extremely unaware of the factors around him. A boy who loved everyone and only wanted the best for many. He was that someone, who would walk up to his grandmother’s friend, which was suffering from a terrible disease, just to say “we care.”
He would also say to his grieving teacher, “your aunts in heaven, don’t worry.” He dreamt of becoming a paramedic, just weeks before he was stricken with E-Coli in 1993. Then four days later he passed away (Andrews and Yeoman). The life of many loved ones is lost due to the foods which are bought and sold. Food contamination is the most dreadful way to die in this world. Contaminated foods should be abolished due to the fact that many Americans are dying yearly and Americans are becoming much more prone to disease-like illnesses; instead, USDA FSIS should mandate the use of food regulators to reduce the risk of illness and the spread of parasites and focus more on educating the public about growing practices, storage and handling of foods.
Contaminated foods are causing many people to become sick and eventually die. The products which are being sold, are not properly mandated, food such as nuts, meats, baby formula, and poultry. Foods contaminated with E. coli “infect more than 70,000 people”, which is more common with ground beef; but most people may suffer severe diarrhea, which eventually “causes 500 people to die”, especially people with low immune systems, such as children’s and the elderly (qtd. in Yeoman). Many consumers are demanding safer foods that are not irradiated, due to the fact of improper handling of foods (Byrd-Bredbenner et al. 4). Eating healthier is much demanded by the people, due to many individuals getting sick. Many people are eating foods; they have no idea how they are manufactured or what exactly is in them. The people have lost their trust in the FDA, properly regulating the foods they consume. Researchers argued that there was a major event that tainted foods; “in 2008-2009 nine people died after eating peanuts which were contaminated” (qtd. in Katel 5). Moreover, the sickness rates keep increasing due to massive health violations. Foodborne illnesses are a major concern to public health, even though many people suffer from many different types of sickness each year. A recent finding has found that more than 3 million chickens and 6,000 pigs; have been feed melamine, with the intention of human consumption (qtd. in Katel 18). Melamine is said to cause many illnesses in the past, such as “a baby formula containing melamine caused sickness among 300,000 children and killed six infants” (qtd. in Katel 18). The products being consumed by the vast majority of the nation will keep increasing the number of sick children and deaths if something is not done soon.
These food contaminations are causing many Americans to become more likely to become infected with parasites and bacteria. Foodborne illness is a major concern for many, in which many diseases can occur. Nowadays, the foods that everyone consumes are very much contaminated, so getting sick is not much of an option. It is said that each year, more than 3000 Americans suffer and eventually die from many other foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and at least 48 million people are hospitalized (qtd. in Katel). People are being contaminated with countless bacteria and diseases from the foods they eat. This issue, will only gradually get worse than rather cease to exist. Moreover, tainted foods have poisoned many in past events and are slowly increasing. An event in 1994 stated that “thousands of people eating ice cream suffered poisoning of salmonella; which was produced by a company named Schwan’s Sales Enterprises” (qtd. in Katel 34). Foodborne illness has spread not only to meats, poultry, and nuts but now even to dairy products. This is a global issue that has reached almost everything the human body consumes. From data presented in 2013, “foodborne diseases have increased by 13% over a 6-year period, based on 100,000 cases of Campylobacter” (qtd. in Byrd-Bredbenner et al. 4).
Food regulators will help to reduce the risk of illness and the spread of parasites. Having someone from a third-party outside source; will greatly reduce the risk of illness. Currently, at restaurants and fast-food stores, state officials don’t have someone on staff at all times, to ensure state guidelines are properly met. Not all restaurants will follow the guidelines issued by the states, reasons may be, to save money and production costs. This will eventually become very troublesome and will later leave the consumer to have a sense of disbelief or trust. Instead, an outside company will be in charge of providing and monitoring the foods being sold. This company will have a team of specialist who is well educated on food safety and will be able to see an issue and adjust it before it causes harm. The team will also be able to, teach the proper food guidelines to staff members at restaurants and fast-food stores. Also, food regulators will especially help in reducing the spread of parasites. Just like when someone sneezes, parasites work almost the same way, when it comes to infecting someone. It can be spread in numerous ways. Food regulators will ensure that ground beef, either frozen or fresh, is well cooked at the appropriate temperate. They will also ensure kitchen equipment is well sanitized and clean; especially where raw meats have been cut, as different pathogens can contaminate foods ready to be served or sold. This process will eventually become effective in reducing the risk of illness and the spread of parasites.
These regulators will focus more on educating the public about storage, handling of foods, and growing practices. Someone from the state will be able to go door to door, do a Doc visit, to see how homeowners are taking care of their kitchen. In doing so, this will educate each household member, on what to look out for and how to properly sanitize their equipment. It will be a learning process for many, who are unaware of some of the basics when it comes to the handling of foods. For example, a midsize family of four will believe that any food left in a refrigerator at a given temperature of above 41-degree F is redeemed safe. The ideal temperature of a refrigerator should be below 41-degree F; reason why are because it slows down microorganisms, spoilage, and mole. So, educating the public about the storage, and handling of foods, will allow a much better understanding of how farmers should grow their products. Food regulators will be able to teach consumers how to properly ask questions when it comes to shopping at the farmer’s market or whole foods supermarkets. This will help consumers/homeowners alike, to know that growing foods, and waters from ponds, and lakes, can become very contaminated by nearby wildlife or waste from factories. Foodborne illness is not something that the providers of our foods, should want for their consumers. Consumers should be able to enjoy the foods they love, without worrying about getting sick after.
If something is not done soon to prevent, stop or eliminate food contamination; many people would be at risk of new diseases and viruses which cannot be cured. According to Sachi Edwards, there are many indirect events, when risks are to be concerned, such as many young men and women wouldn’t be able to have children due to being infertile, children born yearly would be at risk of undeveloped brains, and cancer rates will rapidly increase (741). Also, there was a time in Europe when there was a massive outbreak of mad cow disease caused by food contamination; many people were sick and many later died (Blakeslee 161-184). We must then accept and admit that food contamination is disastrous to our well-being. Many individuals are constantly sickened and eventually die of this cause. Thousands of people are forced to die early and suffer for months, due to a lack of proper regulated food guidelines. Food contamination has proven to cause more harm than good. The bad outweighs the good in a trillion. Support this cause by voting, writing in your local newspaper, share quotes about this cause on social media, so the world will know where we stand, about our foods becoming containment.
Works Cited
Andrew, J. “Food Safety News.” Real-Life Stories Reveal the True Impact of Foodborne Illness 6 Aug. 2014, www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/08/victim-stories-make-food-safety-real-for-the-public/#.
Blakeslee, Sandra. “British Mad Cow Disease Toll Rises, but the Cause Is Unclear – The New York Times.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 19 Mar. 2010, www.nytimes.com/1999/03/19/world/british-mad-cow-disease-toll-rises-but-the-cause-is-unclear.html. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Byrd-Bredbenner, Carol, et al. “Food safety considerations for innovative nutrition solutions.” Wiley Online Library, 5 May 2015, onlinelibrary.wiley.com.db03.linccweb.org/wol1/doi/10.1111/nyas.12779/full. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
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Edwards, Sachi. “Avoiding genetically modified foods in GMO Ground Zero: A reflective self-narrative.” Journal of Health Psychology, May 2015, hpq.sagepub.com.db03.linccweb.org/content/20/5/500. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Yeoman, B. “Dangerous Food.” 1 Aug. 2010, barryyeoman.com/2000/08/dangerous-food/.
Katel, Peter. “Food Safety.” CQ Researcher, 17 Dec. 2010, library.cqpress.com.db03.linccweb.org/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010121700&type=hitlist&num=2#NOTE[34]. Web 21 Nov. 2016.
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McLure, Jason. “Genetically Modified Food.” CQ Researcher, 31 Aug. 2012, library.cqpress.com.db03.linccweb.org/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2012083100. Web 21 Nov. 2016
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