1. Introduction Food fraud is a serious issue which has come under increased scrutiny as a potential food safety and public health concern in recent years (Spink and Moyer 2011). Regulators, food producers, retailers, and consumers all have an interest in safeguarding foods and ensuring they are safe, genuine, and of the highest quality. Nevertheless, food fraud has been conducted since ancient times, with evidence of laws dating back to Roman times regarding the adulteration of wine, through the addition of sweeteners and coloring agents, or dilution with water. At that time the scale of fraud was much more limited to a smaller geographical region (Armstrong 2009; Spink and Moyer 2011). Because of the growth and increasing complexity of the modern global food supply systems, this has substantially heightened the risk of food fraud to include an entire global population, therefore having a major impact on the ability to protect consumer health (Moore and others 2012). Food fraud is a broader term than adulteration (Figure 1). An adulterated food is one which may be spoiled or intentionally adulterated with an adulterant- a substance which has been added illegally) (Spink and Moyer 2011). Virtually all foods have the potential to be adulterated, but those that are more expensive or are produced under changeable weather and harvesting conditions are especially vulnerable (Sharma and Paradakar 2010). Economically motivated adulteration is a subcategory of food fraud and is a
As the world expands through time and business, the natural process of developing food is forced to adapt to the growing demands of civilization. Henceforth, the modern-day food industry is capable of producing a plethora amount of nutrients that sustains mass populations. However, is the modern tradition and technique of mass food production hiding a burdened truth behind the curtains of society’s unawareness? Is such truth more sinister than productive? Filmmaker Robert Kenner directed a documentary in 2008 where the methods of processing meats and harvesting crops were analyzed with their effects. As a result, Kenner’s documentary, Food Inc., has revealed that the ways foods are processed have consequently made them perilous for society. Through the use of
• Most people have no idea where their food comes from – food industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you are eating because if you did you might not eat it
Laborers were forced to work in filthy facilities that had no lighting or place to wash their hands and materials. The dangers of the consumption of food and the unsafe and disease-ridden procedures the meatpacking and food agencies were performing needed to be addressed to the public. Likewise, muckrakers and journalists were people who reinforced public awareness on the food scam and heightened the ideals they were accompanying to. Finally, after the ongoing scandal, the public’s outcry sought Congress’s attention and the Pure Food and Drug Act along with the Meat Inspection Act were considered to prevent the sale, manufacture, and transportation of misbranded goods that were harmful to the human health and welfare. After months of debate between the Senate and the House, the act was signed by Roosevelt to protect the public and ensure that natural food was being processed to purchasers. In consequence to the new act passed, meat and food industries were required to provide hygienic and practicable conditions for their employees, regulate the standards of the products, and inspect the processing plants and food before
Through a substantial amount of research the authors prove that by following a fad diet it can cause many adverse effects, as well as shedding light on benefits of exercise and maintaining a balanced diet. In the opening chapters of the book it is discussed why low fat diets do not work and exactly which diets do. While reading about low fat diets and the health risks that they cause, the book draws you in by explaining the patient profile of a 55 year old man, whom had lost his life due to heart attack. By reading this section of the book its outline how we are all responsible for maintaining our own health, and cases
The government prevents the sale of any food that does not comply with the law. Criminal penalties are given to businesses only if the food business refuses to remove the food product to the market or disregard the safety of consumers.
Officials recognized the problems, and after several years of work, they instituted two acts; the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Meat Inspection Act. The purpose of this essay is to explore one question; To what extent were the short and long term effects of the Pure Food and Drug Act beneficial or detrimental to society? To fully answer this question, the act itself is not all that needs to be looked at. The plethora of legislation, stretching nearly a century after the original act, but especially in the 40 years after the original, must be examined. The Act does not give the full picture, for its progeny must also be appraised.
Before the Progressive Era, many times food and water was unsafe and unclean. In many cases, medicines were not labelled, so they were not always trustworthy and effective. In 1906, the “Pure Food and Drug Act” passed stating that items could not be sold if they were mislabeled and manufacturers must have the ingredients list on the item. Another act passed was the “Meat Inspection Act” which was similar to the previous act stating the item must be labelled correctly and processed in clean environments. Because of these acts, we can trust ouyr food
Around the globe there are many different types of unique and delicious food. In America it’s extremely diverse, people around the world come to America to share and spread their cultural food so that Americans can enjoy. There are several Vietnamese restaurants in America that Americans love to visit once or twice every week. Vietnamese food are usually defined as inauthentic in America. Vietnamese food in the U.S are highly different than the ones in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the food texture, taste, and color are authentic because the ingredients are freshly made. Moreover, in America the spices and recipes are not like the original ingredients. The taste and color of the food is exceedingly essential because if people come in and eat, they wouldn’t want to pay for foods that are plain boring, colorless, and tasteless. That would be awful.
Typically grocery stores are already places of daily hassles, with noise, and lots of people, but lately there has been an added stress factor due to fraudulent labeling on food products. Food fraud is a very big problem in the world today and is affecting everyone, and most people don’t realize that it is happening to them. As stated in the first article, olive oil, milk, saffron, coffee, honey, and fish are the most common fraudulent foods on the market today and not only does this jip shoppers out of money it robs them of nutritional value as well. These products are usually filtered, diluted, or substituted causing the nutritional value to plummet and in some cases can have negative health effects. As stated in the second article, another
We live in an age in which we have come to expect everything to be instantaneously at our fingertips. We live in an age of instant coffee, instant tea, and even instant mashed potatoes. We can walk down the street at 5 in the morning and get a gallon of milk or even a weeks worth of groceries at our discretion. Even though it is great that food is now readily available at all times, this convenience comes at a price, for both the producer and the consumer. Farmers are cheated out of money and are slaves to big business, workers and animals are mistreated. And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the
In the past fifty years, there has been such a vast change in the Industrial Food Industry. Food went from being grown naturally to being processed and packaged for convenience and cheapness. This is where the problem starts, and the greed for money is to blame. The industry has been altered in order to find convenience in making product faster because we all know, time is money. It has been altered in a manner of scamming to get all you can out of as little as possible to of course, save money. It has all become a game of money and profit rather than right and wrong and I have found more than enough examples to
For decades the Fast-food industry has supplied Americans with tasty, comforting food, quickly and at a low cost. It was not until recently, when the health craze first hit America in the late 1980’s that the corporations developed a new approach to marketing health food products to fit their customer’s wants (Nielsen). The most common fast food chains, such as McDonalds and Subway, started advertising “healthier” food items on their menus to continue appealing to the general public. While fast food restaurants give the impression of offering healthy food, nutritionist studies show healthy alternatives are not as nutritious as advertised and can lead to possible calorie underestimation and overconsumption (Chandon 85). In order to
The perfect fraud storm occurred between the years 2000 and 2002 involving two of the largest energy and telecom corporations in the United States: Enron and WorldCom. It was determined that both organizations fraudulently overstated assets, created assets from expenses or overstated revenues, costing investors billions of dollars and resulting in both organizations declaring bankruptcy (Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht & Zimbelman, 2012). Nine factors contributed to fraud triangle creating this perfect fraud storm, and assisting management in concealing the fraud until exposed and rectified.
The food industry has a large impact on individuals and will affect wider communities in the future. The rush of today’s society has pushed food production to become more commercialized with prepackaged/premade based foods. For numerous reasons such as time, work and costs of living, people are wanting meals that are cheap, fast, easy and don’t require much effort. This is due to many obligations and priorities in life that are put above
Besides the growing shortage of field workers in America, false food scares is another problem that leaves ready to pick fruits and vegetables on the plant. A food scare is when a contamination spreads, the public is informed, and thus stays away from purchasing that particular infected plant. “For example, in 2008 a warning was issued by the Food and Drug Administration of possible salmonella contamination in tomatoes. The warning was eventually discovered to be unfounded, but in the meantime it created a negative perception among consumers and decreased overall demand. As a result, some 32 percent of total U.S. tomato acreage went un-harvested” (Gunders). Food scares similar to the tomato crisis are not uncommon; with the rise of social media, information about food scares spreads faster (Desmarchelier, Fang). These food scares are not only waste food but they also are bad for the economy. As a result of food scares, companies experience costly consequences, their stock may fall, and perhaps they will have to pay a fine, in addition to having to purchase ads to regain their base’s trust (Duggan). For large food companies it is a simple annoyance to regain the consumer’s trust, however for small businesses or farms it can drive them bankrupt.