Call For Enforcement of Food Safety Guidelines

The current beef recall is just another in a series of recalls that should make the consumer concerned about the safety of the foods that they are buying. Just this last October, 2007, Topps Meat Co. had a massive frozen hamburger recall after 25 people were sickened by the meat in eight states. In all this recall of meat that was on the market for human consumption resulted in 21.7 million lbs of ground beef being recalled. Just think how many people did or could have consumed this contaminated meat and how many may have been seriously sickened or died as a result of the meat industries focus on profit rather than on the good of the consumer.

The worst part of it all is that the product in the above recall was contaminated with e-coli. In e-colis worst form children are especially vulnerable to die in a slow and painful manner. This is especially frightening when one considers that this was enough meat to feed a McDonald’s regular hamburger to every adult in the United States and since children love the smaller hamburgers each of us was subjected to the possibility of losing someone we love when we purchased one for ourselves or our children. No wonder I have avoided ground beef as much as possible for the last several years.

Next one must wonder how long it took to notify the public of the supposed danger. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, which oversees the industry, the meat in question was presented to the public in late June or July of 2007 and the E.coli began making people sick in August. However, it took an additional six weeks for the first recall to be issued. So, between the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Dept of Agriculture, both of whom are charged with keeping our food supply safe, I must wonder if any of us is really safe.

Voices from all over the nation, including the Consumers Union are decrying the delay that began with a small recall only to be expanded by 600 times within a matter of days. One victim was Samantha Safranek, a fifteen year old, who nearly lost her life over eating one tainted burger. However, our fears cannot rest solely around tainted meats but appear to also encompass items like spinach and salad mixes. Could these outbreaks be intentional forms of terrorism? That is unlikely. It is more probable that the contamination is the result of poor standards and cost cutting measures being employed by food manufacturers throughout the U.S. and poor oversight by those agencies charged with protecting the consumer.

As if this recall wasn’t sufficient to wake up the food industry it is only four months later and we find ourselves facing yet another recall. This time from Chino-based Westland/ Hallmark meats based in Southern California. This recall is the largest ever to hit the United States and a scramble is on to try to make sure that none of the tainted meat hits children’s lunchboxes. However, it is thought that the majority of the 143 million lbs of beef targeted in this latest recall has most likely already been consumed.

What is causing this repeated contamination of our meat supply? It appears that animal rights activists have taken objection to the terrible animal abuse taking place at the slaughter houses. Yes, we all know that the animals must be sacrificed to provide food for the consumer but most of us thought that at least their deaths were humanely done. Apparently, this is not the case in this latest round of recalls where it appears that the animals were so sick that they could not even stand up. When that occurred the worked stabbed the animals in their eyes and used fork lifts and dragging chains to force the animals into the slaughter pens. Frightenly, the investigation further revealed that the company did not routinely contact a veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory, after passing inspection, violating health regulations resulting in all of the meat processed being deemed unfit for human consumption.

To fight back Americans need to call for testing of every lot of meat that is produced to ensure its safety for consumption, something which is not required today. Let’s band together to force the public entities entrusted with the safety of our food supply to comply with federal regulations and punish them severely for accepting graft and/or failing to do their job. I for one feel that the safety of my family should take precedence over the profits of the company producing the food supply.

[tags]Federal Food and Drug Administration, FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beef recall, Topps Meat Company, Westland/Hallmark meats, animal abuse, slaughter houses, food safety, food supply, e-coli[/tags]