Safety of our food supply

Safety of Our Food Supply

by Adam Huscasson

Section 4

In the land of plenty, the place that we call home, Americans over the last several years have taken for granite that we will have a safe food supply at our finger tips. In 1906, Americans were first awakened to the appalling reality of the meat packing industry’s abusive practices with Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. With the American publics backing, President Roosevelt demanded corrective action for this problem. With this pressure, congress passed both the Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. (CFI) Since then extensive work is done to keep a safe food supply. For more than 100 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have protected the health of Americans by improving the safety of the food supply the agency regulates. The FDA has created a Food Protection Plan (FPP) in an effort to prevent problems before they start. If a problem does arise the FDA is quick to respond and gain control, thus preventing a major problem. Currently there are several issues that the FDA is working to resolve and change polices in order to prevent such occurrences for happening again. All of the changes help maintain health and an economic presence in the world market.
The FDA’s Food Protection Plan consists of three parts: prevention, intervention, and response. According to the FDA “prevention is the keystone of an effective, proactive food defense.”(US Dept. of Health Human Services) By working with private, local, state, and foreign industries, they are able to identify vulnerabilities, improve cooperation and increase the understanding of effective mitigations measures. To achieve these goals the FDA meets with states and consumer groups in order to gain input, develops written food protection guidelines, analyzes food import trend data and integrates it into risk-based approach that focuses on the highest threat, and they have an ever increasing presence overseas.
Within the second layer of protection, intervention, the FDA works to ensure that preventive measures are implemented and that contaminated food is identified. This goal is achieved by inspections/sampling, priority surveillance, and an understanding of warning signs that are indicative of contaminants. Workers trained extensively in technically complex and specialized food manufacturing processes and use advanced screening technology. By using such sophisticated equipment, workers are able to locate and determine the source of problems or potential problems before it affects the public. To further help the policing of food processing, storage, and transportation there are several legislative proposals: require new re-inspection fees from facilities that fail to meet current “Good Manufacturing Processes” (US Dept. of Health Human Services), allow highly-qualified third parties for voluntary food inspections, and authorize FDA to refuse admission of imported food if an inspectors access is delayed, limited, or denied. All of these steps would further allow the FDA to ensure a safe food supply for Americans.
The third critical factor in the Food Protection Plan is response and an effort to continually reduce the time from detection to situational control or at least public awareness. In order to effectively do this, the FDA works with media experts as well as stake holders to determine who could be affected and contact these people. With the stakeholders involved, an effective “trace-back process” to the origin and destination of contaminated foods can be precisely tracked.
The United Stated currently hasn’t had a terroristic attack on our food supply but Americans have become aware of the potential with the California E. coli in spinach and also with the one case of mad cow disease. "Days after the discovery of mad cow disease, 53 countries banned U.S. beef imports. The economic loss to the U.S. cattle industry from the loss of beef imports just to Japan was more than $2 billion a year. "Almost three years later, countries have reopened their borders to U.S. beef, but exports still have not reached 2003 levels." (HealthWatch) The export of domestic products in 2007 totaled 89.9 Billion equating to 9% of all trade in the United States, proving to be a substantial porting of income for Americans. (US Census Bureau) Not only does the FDA protect us from diseased food but they also help maintain an economic stability; their presence allows Americans to trade with each other as well as internationally. With the strict regulations from the FDA, the crackdown on terrorism from President Bush, and an ever watchful eye by the American public, we should continually be able to have a vast supply of health food for our enjoyment.


Works Cited
US Census Bureau, "Agricultural Exports and Imports--Value ." The 2009 Statistical Abstract. December 18, 2008. U.S. Censu Bureau. 18 Mar 2009 .

The Associated Press, "Experts: U.S. Must Protect Food Supply." Health. 26 September 2006. The Associated Press. 18 Mar 2009 .

Center for Foodborne Illness, "AMERICA’S FOOD SUPPLY." Center for Foodborne Illness researc and prevention. 2007. Center for Foodborne Illness. 18 Mar 2009 .

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, "Food Protection Plan." U.S. Food and Drug Administration. US Department of Health and Human Services. 18 Mar 2009 .