Foodborne Illnesses

Everybody loves food, everybody has to eat. Unfortunately not all food is safe for us to consume, even though it may appear to be safe. There are over 200 known microbial, chemical or physical agents that can cause illness when ingested(Acheson, 1999). There has to be regulations to keep the US and EU citizens healthy and protected from these harmful agents in our food. In the United States, this is where the FDA(Food and Drug Administration) the CDC(Centers for Disease Control) and the USDA(United States Department of Agriculture) step in. The FDA controls food and drug regulations, the CDC helps identify pathogen and diseases and the USDA deals with meat and poultry regulations. In the European Union(EU) a close FDA

Because E. Coli O157:H7 is found in cattle intestines, a key method to prevent E. Coli O157:H7 contamination is to prevent fecal matter from splattering on the beef.12 However, this was not a priority for the meat processing and feedlot industries, which was focused instead on minimizing costs and maximizing profits. The feedlot sectors held responsibility due to the poor conditions it raised cattle. In order to minimize costs, cattle were kept in “medieval conditions” where they were without clean water and sewage disposal. Because cattle deposit around 50 pound of manure everyday, the result of the poor sanitation conditions is that cattle spend most of the day in their own feces, coating their hides with waste. In addition, the animal feed contained fecal matter from other animals. The meat processing industry further exacerbated this problem through their slaughtering techniques. In order to maximize profits the cattle were slaughtered at high speeds by employees who were increasingly composed of poorly trained, poorly paid, and politically vulnerable immigrant workers. To slaughter the cattle, workers must first remove the cattle’s hide before physically removing its inner organs. However, if the hides are not properly cleaned, pieces of dirt and fecal matter will fall into the meat. Furthermore, if the organs are not removed

Our initial purpose of researching this topic has been inspired by the growing concern for the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease and it's various forms. We believe that it is imperative that we take our research and implement it to others along with facts in order to generate concern for other countries regulations, United States regulations, health concerns and economical awareness.

There are many areas things can go wrong in the process of raising, slaughtering, and packaging the beef for human consumption. Especially so in slaughterhouses and processing plants, as there are many potential contamination hazards, and most depend on human attention to catch and correct. The cattle may arrive at the slaughterhouse with feces on their hides, which present the first risk of contamination as it can be very difficult to remove the hides from the animal without transferring any of the pathogen bearing feces to the carcass. The second high-risk area in the slaughterhouse is the gutting station, where at some locations, workers are expected to keep up an extremely fast pace, as many as sixty cattle per hour, which does not provide adequate time to prevent accidents. A ruptured gut sac can leave a carcass intended for human consumption covered in fecal matter or stomach acids all potentially containing the potentially deadly foodborne bacteria (Schlosser 203). At these slaughterhouses, steps are taken to clean and disinfect the carcasses, but E. coli is hard to kill. It is encouraged by the Agricultural Department to begin testing at these locations for E. coli, but most choose not to, as they stand to suffer significant monetary damage if they discover any E. coli present in their products (Moss 3). Most slaughterhouses will not sell their products to processing plants that plan to pre-screen the meat before combining and

The biggest question for preventing foodborne illness comes from companies following safe sanitation practices, and promptly reporting all incidents of foodborne illnesses when an outbreak occurs. Many former outbreaks of foodborne illness end in companies leaving out vital information of the events that occurred in their facilities the day of the outbreak. In order to stay up to date on current outbreaks, each state routinely monitors diseases that are to be under surveillance by the public health department

There shouldn’t have to be any more deaths from tainted meat. After watching this documentary and now knowing what goes into my food, I said I would never eat meat again and become a vegan, which is exactly what I plan to do. Over 35% of Americans are obese from fast food restaurants, 40% of Americans die from e-coli. It’s plain and simple; if you question it, don’t eat it. For every American who is staring at their cheeseburger or fries right now, ask yourself, is it

A mother of a young child called the Vermont Department on February 5 to report the possibility of a foodborne disease outbreak after her child aged 5 years and two other children of her neighbor aged 7 and 10 years became ill with a lot of vomiting and diarrhea that took place within an interval of 12 hours. The child’s sickness became severe that the mother took her to a local hospital where she was kept at the emergency department.

Niagara Bottling has issued a voluntary recall of spring water produced at two Pennsylvania plants from June 10 through June 18 due to evidence of E. coli bacteria at the spring source (Brumfield). Not only that but many more outbreaks of E. coli have been popping up on the news. For example A total of 12 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coliO157:H7 (STEC O157:H7) were reported from 4 states (CDC). And that was in 2014. There has been an outbreak of E. coli every year so far since 2006. E. coli is not a disease most people want because that affects you from both sides and most agree that it does not feel good. I propose that a policy should be put into place where all food must first go through an inspection to see whether or not the food is contaminated with E.coli or any disease in that

I recently watched the documentary called Food Inc. in which it unveiled the unsanitary conditions of livestock farming. Some livestock farmers use antibiotic-treated feed for their animals because they become very ill. The reason for heavy use of antibiotics is that the lack of sanitation in the tunnel ventilated houses create infections in the animals. (Robert Kenner, 2009) In some cases, antibiotics are administered without the consultation of an accredited veterinarian and for no reason. There has been an increasing fear in the public that antibiotics used in the meat and poultry may have some unexpected negative effects after years of consumption. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) have published articles that report on the effects of medicated feed that may create antibiotic resistance in humans. The CDC reports that 3,800 cases of drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi infections occur per year in the United States (CDC, 2013.) Salmonella is a foodborne illness which is also contagious amongst food animals. In recent news, the World Health Organization (2015) has labeled red meat a carcinogen. This recent information fuels the public’s fear that there may be a link to human antibiotic resistance and the overuse of antibiotics in food animals . This type of news has made antibiotics in livestock feed an urgent public health issue. In order to prevent antibiotic resistance and deter this problem the proposed bill known as Senate Bill 770 (SB. 770)

In 2011, the long-term problem of infections with 6 main pathogens transmitted commonly through food didn’t changed in 2006-2008. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011: It gives FDA further command to regulate food facilities, form standards for safe produce, recall tainted foods, inspect imported foods, and develop in surveillance and react to outbreaks. It calls on CDC to restore surveillance and outbreak reactions. Melanie Miller, an official with the partnership for Food Safety Education, says, “While the U.S. food supply is among the safest of the world, harmful bacteria can still find its way into our

However, according to Doyle, et al (2015), there has been reduction in the number of outbreaks and illnesses due to E.coli infections in the past 15 years. This is due to CDC mandate that clinicians conduct laboratory testing and reporting of microbial agents that cause illnesses. As a result, foods highly at risk of getting contaminated are being monitored, inclding natural foods that contain little or no antimicrobial agents (p. 254). Also, clinicians have taken more active role in educating people about ways to prevent or reduce foodborne diseases. Washing hands properly as well as changing cutting boards after handling raw poultry or meat is very important for food

After a little playground fun, you cruise over to McDonald's for lunch. You order a happy meal and joyfully watch him consume in happiness. Unfortunately, that burger was contaminated with E. Coli. The damage has already been done, sadly killing him in a matter of days. Such an event was displayed by Food Inc, a woman losing her 2 year old son in 12 days after consuming a hamburger. Diseases such as E. Coli are all a consequence of animals being kept in horrendous conditions. Considering there are only 13 slaughterhouses in the U.S. (Food Inc, 2009), contaminated meat mixing in with “healthy” beef, increases the chance of disease. Subsequently, due to the atrocious living habitat, factory animals walk on their excrement daily. If an animal is contaminated, disease will undoubtedly spread within the quarters. Another example of how diseases arise is corn, continually mentioned in the film. Scientists stated that 90% of the food products contain corn or a soybean ingredient (Food Inc, 2009). To merely rephrase, there isn't much variation with the foods we eat! Exhibited were numerous factory farms force feeding animals corn. When feeding corn to factory animals, it has the potential to evolve. Hence evident metamorphosis takes place, generating high risk. Even more so, a majority of companies drench meat with ammonia hydroxide (leads to food poisoning) to kill bacteria (Food Inc, 2009). Surely that

coli, another undisclosed truth comes to light in this documentary. To get rid of the E. coli, our meat products are thoroughly cleansed with ammonia. Ammonia is a chemical that most Americans recognize as a household cleaning item, and now this chemical is in our meat. We are being secretly exposed to this chemical and it is not even guaranteed to work 100% of the time. However, this is not the only chemical used in our food. When eating an out of season fruit, Americans run the risk of eating a fruit that is artificially ripened. Since tomatoes cannot grow in America in the winter, they are picked while green from overseas. Once they arrive in America and are ready to go to market, they are ripened with ethylene gas. Ethylene gas “contains traces of arsenic and phosphorus hydride” (Siddiqui). These traces can cause chronic health defects such as “vomiting, diarrhea with or without blood, burning sensation of the chest and abdomen, thirst, weakness, permanent eye damage, etc.” (Siddiqui). As we can see, the major food companies hide very serious issues from the public, because if they knew the truth, many consumers would be appalled and possibly stop buying their products.

Corn is the number one grain used to feed animals for slaughter. Feeding cows corn instead of their natural diet lead to the unintentional creation of 157H7 E. coli, a deadly bacteria that can kill. The film reveals how food standards have dropped, with only 9,164 safety inspections from the FDA each year as compared to over 50,000 in 1972. The food industry has become consolidated to the point of a few companies having a great deal of power and influence via the government. The USDA is no longer able to shutdown plants with contaminated meat. A bill titled “Kevin’s Law” had the intent of changing that, but, after 6 years, the bill still has not been passed. Food companies have made some attempts to reduce E. coli by cleaning their meats in an ammonia solution. However, unhealthy food is being subsidized and contributing to American obesity and the rise of type 2 diabetes in adolescents.

Perceived susceptibility is the threat that food safety programs would diminish which would overall shut down food establishments due to bad handling and other contamination issues. Perceived severity is how John must portray to the state government that without the ability to educate employees, management and so on about food safety programs then these institutions will shut down. The benefits to continuing, if not increasing these plans is possibly better business for these restaurants as well as increasing tax for better overall governmental funding. The outbreak of E. coli in itself should be motivation enough to encourage behavior change in accumulating more programs for employees and management. (Realmuto & Sutaria, 2012)