FOOD SAFETY.

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North Americans enjoyed up to recent years, and enviable safe food production, distribution and inspection system. This system is now much less reliable than it was originally, doe a number of reasons.

Food is now produced in factory farms of gigantic proportions where safety regulations are lax and even more importantly poorly administered by inspectors. Giant factory farms were invented by huge corporations with billions of dollars of capital, solely with the intent of maximizing profits. They employ large numbers of people, some of whom are poorly trained, illegal immigrants, with limited or no knowledge of English, and lawyers intent on blocking government actions also employing lobbying companies specializing in the way of thinking and behaviour of Washington’s ruling politicians. Millions are spent lobbying lawmakers to bloc laws intended to protect the public, and incurring additional expenses to factory farming operations.

Food safety is now so complex than enforcing laws becomes too costly.

Genetic engineering constantly tries to develop large species of fish, cattle, fruits, and vegetables that grow faster and bigger yet they lack taste, and most producers don’t know and don’t care how safe they are.

This trend of developing large or fast-growing species is the result of the belief that large is always better. Nowhere in the world but in North America is this believed to be the case, yet the population blindly believes this myth and farmers, and factory farms are happy to deliver.

The U S A boasts the safest food in the world, yet 25 percent of the 310 million citizens suffer from food borne diseases every year and 5000 die from food poisoning, while 325 000 are hospitalized. Many of these incidences are the result of poor employee training in fast food outlets, and of  ignorance of food borne diseases.

North American states import food from hundreds of countries. U S D A inspectors simply cannot inspect adequately all shipments, and some manufactures foods slip through with deadly consequences. While the U S D A is in chare of regulating meat, poultry products, and eggs including derivatives, the F D A (Food and Drug Administration) addresses all other foods. This alone creates communication and jurisdiction problems.

These days, bacteria, viruses and parasites are responsible for more deaths than pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Most, if not all, food-borne illnesses are the result of ignorance in proper cooking, food storage and purchasing too much at one time. Customers are constantly encouraged to buy more than they can use within a short time, either through packaging of large quantities, or by offering attractively low prices.

Common pathogenic bacteria are: campylobacter jejuni. Escherichia coli O157:H7 (results form undercooked beef), salmonella enteritidis (from meat infected by faeces) of chicken andéor eggs, listeria monocytogenes (found in soft cheeses, and processed meats). Shigella sonnei is the result of swage contaminated irrigation water mostly used in vegetable farming.

Weakened immune systems of pregnant women and older individuals are particularly vulnerable to the above diseases.

Children are very susceptible to shigella sonnei and it is highly contagious. Irrigation water must be free of pathogenic bacteria, yet in many Middle Eastern countries it is not, and this is one of the reasons of western tourists getting ill after eating poorly washed salads in these countries.

Food-borne diseases affect relatively few individuals in developing countries. Children grow up in environments full of bacteria and eat food that may be contaminated, but over time the body develops immunity. In North America, most everything is sterile, and when people are exposed to even small amounts of contaminated food the results can be devastating.

Food inspectors in meat plants spend too much time in their offices to comply with bureaucratic procedures such as filling out report forms rather than spending time on the `killing floor`.

Remember that ground meat contains more bacteria than small pieces, as the grinding pushes pathogenic bacteria into the food mass. Ground meat must be cooked at least to 160 F  approximately 80 C internal temperature to eliminate all pathogenic bacteria. The same is true for reheated food, particularly stews, and fish cooked in milk or cream sauces.

All processed foods (pates, hot dogs, hamburger patties, deli meats, smoked cheeses, blue- and soft cheeses) require utmost attention in preparation, packaging, distribution, storage and service.

Three decades ago, government agencies would send inspectors to plants overseas to ensure that a manufacturer was adhering to all health regulations, but this policy is rarely, if ever enforced these days.

Ultimately, as a consumer you must be well informed about the food you buy, store, and cook, rather than rely on agencies in charge of regulating food production, processing, packaging, distribution, and in certain cases for cooked food.
An informed consumer is most secure when it comes.