Poor Food Safety and Sanitation System in the Modern Food Industry - Essay Example

Yeon Ok Park Rhianna Brandt ENGL1304 04 November Poor Food Safety and Sanitation Practices, A Threat to Food-borne Illness Outbreak:A Researched Argument Food safety is a major concern for the public and the subject holds immense importance among public policymakers. Outbreaks of food-borne diseases such as E. coli and Salmonella in the past years have drawn greater attention towards the handling of food in the food industry. The Food and Drug Administration – which is a central institutional body concerned with public health safety – has taken steps so as to address the matter through policy making. In addition, the Congress has also played its role by passing laws that prohibit the importation of contaminated food products (Tavernise, n.pag.). The statistics for casualties resulting from food-borne diseases represent an alarming number with 5000 deaths occurring within the US every year (Nyachuba, 257). The figures, coupled with the history of food-borne disease outbreaks in the past, have triggered law enforcement authorities to make an effort at ensuring health and safety. The matter presents itself as a challenge which is a major issue concerning public health. While many large food importers and consumer groups are supportive of the new rules to impose mandatory audits, there is some resistance in bringing about the change. The supply chain of food products must be carefully inspected and audited as Attenborough and Mathews (144) point out how the process is vulnerable to microbial contaminations. To a great extent, therefore, the poor food safety and sanitation system in modern food industry is responsible for food borne illness outbreaks. A major risk to food safety is food poisoning which often results from bacterial contamination to be specific (Attenborough and Mathews, 144). The bacterial genus Escherichia coli, which are a major cause of food poisoning and disease outbreaks, has a high virulence among humans. The bacteria also have a low infective dose and are heat sensitive. As a result, the bacteria can be killed upon heating above temperatures of 70°C, for a duration of 2 minutes (Attenborough and Mathews, 144). However, the bacteria are resistant to low pH levels and can survive at pH levels as acidic as 4.2 (Attenborough and Mathews, 144). The concern surrounding E. coli mainly relates to the meat industry due to its presence in meat which must be cooked well in order to destroy the bacteria. Symptoms resulting from E. coli range from mild to severe cases, which in some cases, can also cause death. Cleanliness in the meat supply chain can greatly help to reduce the bacterial count present in the meat. Hygiene is therefore important especially during the supply chain process and hence, hygienic on-farm practices are vital for ensuring safe meat for consumers. Another important and helpful step is to introduce standards and risk assessment methodologies in the slaughterhouse. These steps go hand in hand with other hygienic practices at meat production facilities and other premises. The safety steps reflect how the production process and the supply chain within food industries play a significant role in ensuring safety. Thus, it is apparent that any deficiencies in the system can introduce contaminants in the food. Standard practices within food industry facilities have been identified as key determinants of food safety. However, while there is a lot of emphasis on on-site supply chain and farming practices, there is also an argument that proposes a greater responsibility on the consumers’ end. E. coli, among many other bacteria, are found in meat and can be easily be introduced in the meat during the process. It is also known that E. coli are heat sensitive. This means that these bacteria cannot survive high heat intensities and thus, cooking meat thoroughly and over a moderately high flame can help destroy any bacteria within. Such cooking practices are however dependent on the practices of consumers and not the producers. So there must be greater education and awareness regarding cooking of meat so that food safety can be ensured. Although such arguments focus on the consumers, it is more rational to standardize practices within the supply chain because they are the first links in the processing chain. The final delivery of safe to the customers is only possible if the farming and supply chain practices are adequate. Similar to E. coli outbreaks, many incidents of Salmonella have come to surface. Issues surrounding Salmonella resulting from contaminated peanut butter stimulated a reformation in the public health safety policies by the FDA (Zhang, n.pag.). In the year, 2009, a Salmonella outbreak surfaced as many people got sick, were hospitalized, and even died. The Salmonella cases triggered a response from concerned people, including the President Barack Obama (Zhang, n.pag.). The FDA is an important institute that covers food safety in the areas of egg products, vegetables, meat, and poultry spurred. Shortages of funds to the agency led to fewer employees and fewer inspections. Hence, many facilities were ignored from inspections. Inspection is a key vehicle that drives food safety standards. Routine checks of the facilities and the environment are crucial to ensuring that the standards are being met. Inspection acts as a control against shortfalls in public safety and ensures that the right practices are being followed. Generally, facilities are the most likely places for the introduction of contaminations into food. Hence, FDA inspections or inspections by the relevant authorities make sure that the standard practices are being followed and that adequate steps have been taken to provide quality food that is clean and safe from disease-causing contaminations. It is realized that regular site inspections are very important for public food safety. The counterargument against frequent inspections concerns with the argument that site inspections are not as effective in reducing the risks of food-borne illnesses. Statistics are presented that show how a reduction in inspections correlates to either low or flat food-borne illnesses. Other arguments say that even though a lot of compliance issues are detected during inspections however the response only applies to a few of such facilities or companies. This suggests that while the FDA may conduct many inspections in a year and also detect many inconsistencies, nevertheless, action is only taken against a few companies. This shows the ineffectiveness of inspections in helping ensure food safety. However, it is also evident that, in situations where other actions are not possible, site inspection seems to be the most viable option. Inspections have also proven to be effective in many ways especially in assessing compliance and other rules. So, inspections serve an important purpose in promoting food safety by ensuring compliance from companies operating in the food industry. The FDA recently introduced a rule where importers will have to go through an audit so as to ensure compliance and food safety (Tavernise, n.pag.). According to this new rule, importers will have to go through a thorough analysis and audit which will help prevent contaminated food from reaching consumers. The step has been praised by many importers of food and consumer groups, however they are pressing for the inspections to be mandated. Again, these audits will hold inspections at the center place because inspections are realistically the most viable option for performing regular checks. It is an important control procedure whereby a detailed audit is performed at the facilities and premises followed by reporting. All the phases of the process are focused towards identifying issues with the current system of technique. This process helps to highlight the deficiencies present in the current system. It also checks for compliance where those companies that are found to be violating the rules can be barred. Also, the checks which consider the entire supply chain are better able to analyze the whole system of procedure. In this way, identification of shortfalls is easier. However, there is a debate that is concerned with whether the decision to allow an inspection should be at the discretion of the company. Consumer groups as well as many importers are worried about whether company discretion at inspections will have an impact on the purpose of imposing the new rule (Tavernise, n.pag.). It is one of the propositions that companies should be allowed the discretion for inspections. As such, companies will have the discretion of whether to carry out on-site inspections or not. Hence, a greater control over inspections will be held by the companies. This presents itself as a drawback for the efforts to promote food safety. This is because non-mandated inspections will possibly fail to get companies to carry out audits. In conclusion, the poor food safety and sanitation system prevalent in many food facilities are responsible for outbreaks in food borne illnesses. Hygiene and cleanliness are crucial to reducing risks of public health safety. Food safety and the sanitation system along with general facility hygiene play an important role in helping to prevent contaminations. Hence, the bulk of the issue centers about the sanitation system and the food safety standards at place in many food companies. The process is vulnerable to contaminations in food which is the most common cause of food borne illnesses. Hence, the food safety and sanitation system should be overhauled in order to address the issue. Works Cited Attenborough, M., and K.R. Matthews. Food Safety Through The Meat Supply Chain. Journal of Applied Microbiology 88.S1 (2000): 144S-148S. Web. Nyachuba, David G. Foodborne Illness: Is It On The Rise?. Nutrition Reviews 68.5 (2010): 257-269. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Tavernise, Sabrine. F.D.A. Says Importers Must Audit Food Safety. New York Times. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Zhang, Jane. Salmonella Outbreak Fuels Food-Safety Efforts. Wall Street Journal. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Read More