Microbiology Topic Paper:
Microbial Regulation in the Food Industry
Microorganisms have been involved I the development of food items throughout history. Although at first it may have not been intentional over time humans have study and experimented with culturing microbes to prolong the shelf life of foods, inadvertently changing the taste and textures of the food item as well. As safety concerns spread in the 1900s regulations were formed to ensure the safety and well-being of humans. In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Admiration is the organization that determines the overall safeness of a food element.
When Microbes are used in food they tend to fall under two types of categories in the FDA regulatory classifications. The first category would be the generally recognized as safe category or GRAS published as a proposed rule in 1997. Microbes considered GRAS fall under multiple definitions. If a microbe was utilized prior to 1958 as an additive with no apparent side effects and proven to be safe over time, it will fall under GRAS via being grandfathered in. Another way in which a microbe additive will be considered GRAS is through common knowledge. Common knowledge is the assumed awareness that experts have in knowing that a microbe is naturally in the development in the food process. For example if a microbe is naturally present in yogurt, such as S. thermophiles, then supplementary amounts of the same microbes being added to the yogurt
In the case of the Salmonella gastroenteritis outbreak after a reception, the origin of the illness comes down to the potato salad served at this event, however, the investigators are not certain of the mechanism of contamination. Whether the service worker (infected) might have unknowingly contaminated the food item or whether the food service worker also was infected through the same source as the case-patients remains unclear.2 Because the mechanism is unclear, it’s hard to identify if any of the ingredients in the potato salad were the culprit. In many cases, however, investigators are able to identify the mechanism for contamination.
illnesses is very serious and is not only spread through human interaction with the food, since
Approximately ten thousand processed food products are introduced every year in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration does not require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients other additives so long as all the chemicals are considered by the agency to be GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe)” (Schlosser 122-125). With the use of flavor add-ins the fast food industry is been able to make their food cheaper to re-create the same taste we are used to. The author use of logos in the novel only allows for the facts to be stated and
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
The introduction of chemicals in daily life has been met with an abundance of confusion and fear. When introducing the world of chemicals to food, the knee jerk reaction is often to shun the very idea. Of course, this response is to be expected. The word chemical is mentally correlated with unnatural materials formed in a lab or a radiation riddled mess. However, the negative effects of chemicals in food has been exacerbated over the years. Fear has driven public consciousness to ignorance. Corn, for example, is subject to pesticide treatment—one being Glyphosate. Said Glyphosate has been accused of being a carcinogen to humans. While such a fearful correlation may cause concern, there is a question on the sentiments validity. While questioning the effectiveness of chemicals is understandable, the use of chemicals is not only a common tool in the food industry’s arsenal, but a safe practice conducted on the food sold and consumed every day.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are government agencies that coordinate with one another to ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply. For instance, the FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring safety, effectiveness, quality and security of human/veterinary drugs, vaccines, and medical services. In addition, the FDA is also responsible for all cosmetics and dietary supplements, tobacco and products of radiation. There is a law in place, which has been recently signed by President Obama on January 4, 2001 called the Food Safety Modernization Act. This reformed food safety law is over sighted by the FDA agency to ensure that the U.S. food supply is safe, by focusing on ways to prevent contamination from previously reported
There was a time where there was no limits to what substances were in products we humans consume or use everyday. It is alarming to think that there could be items in our food or medicine that are potentially dangerous and deadly. It is for these reasons that the Food and Drug Administration came to be. It all started in a time where companies could say anything they wanted about a product without any scientific validation or proof. The government stepped in and established the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 along with a new agency: the FDA. This act's purpose was to protect the public against dangerous substances in food and from products identified as healthy without scientific support. This law was an accumulation of many bills and ideas that aimed to protect consumers from contaminated products. (The Pure Food and Drug Act) Now, the FDA conducts recalls, market withdraws, and safety alerts in order to protect the citizens.
During the course of this lab, we explored whether or not certain processed foods contained Genetically Modified Organisms. Genetically modified food is an important subject in the world today. Ever since Flavr Savr came out with their tomatoes grown from genetically modified seeds in 1994 genetically modified foods has become ever more popular amongst distributors of produce (Mestel, 2013). The world’s population has grown by around one billion in the last decade (US Bureau of the Census). At this rate, Genetically Modified Organisms within food products will increase dramatically, but is this for the best? There are many risk factors that have been brought up with genetically modified foods such as potential increase of
FDA is a very important organization to inspect all food additives. FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration. It oversees a variety of products involving food, drugs, cosmetics, animal food, dietary supplements, medical devices, biological goods and blood products. It is the agency in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Protecting public health is a key priority of the FDA. Safety concerns prompt the FDA to pull one to two drugs and six to eight food and medical devices from the market annually. It is the FDA’s duty to address serious risks that can be avoided and managed. The FDA reviews the safety and effectiveness of food and medical
The government masks what is put into our food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certifies the use of partially hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, butylated hydroxyanisole, propyl gallate, potassium bromate and many other additives for a sustained shelf-life and stabilization of flavors. These additives have been directly
During our class discussion last week, we discussed Microbes Help Grow Better Crops, by Richard Conniff. In the article by Richard Conniff, he states that, “Adding bacteria to a crop to prevent human disease could be the start of a whole new path to food safety.” This statement by Richard Conniff explains to us the idea of preventing diseases by adding bacteria to a crop. As a result, we will be able to prevent most human diseases from existing in the first place. We as a society haven’t implemented the idea about adding bacteria to crops yet, but suggesting ideas that can help prevent problems for us as a whole is the first step to making our future better for us. Diseases such as, salmonella and E-coli can be prevented with the new understanding
Food borne illness is a big issue in the United States. Each year up to 5,000 people die from foodborne illness… something that plays a role in foodborne illness is boxing labels such as expiration dates. Another thing that is another big part in foodborne illness is the way it processed or cooked. When the government monitors food safety, there are fewer foodborne illnesses that make people sick.
The new FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it rather than relying primarily on reacting to problems after they occur. Everyone play a role in ensuring safe food from field to fork. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the major inspection and reorganize of United State food safety practice since 1938. This is a big change to US food system, since the new regulations are not just for farms, but facilities that process food for people to eat. These new regulations are important for the food and Drug Administration to get these regulations right, thus that they improve food safety.
Food is an essential constituent in human life. Nevertheless, some foods can be detrimental to a person’s organism by causing life-threatening diseases. For that reason, food safety comes into play. Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling,
Food contamination is a serious issue because it results in foodborne diseases. Hence, awareness of potential sources of food contamination is an important component of good nutrition.