"At Your Service" Newspaper Column

 

Michael R. Milam

Agronomy Specialist and County Program Director

For Daily Dunklin Democrat-At Your Service

October 30, 2007

Understanding food safety issues

            The United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world. Yet, occasionally we will learn about outbreaks of E. coli, and many coliform bacteria or viral food borne illnesses that make people sick and in some cases cause death. Many times when people get sick they blame the problem on intestinal flu or a virus, when in fact, the illness may actually be caused by a food borne microorganism.

            The International Food Information Council has written backgrounder information related to food safety and defense. This Food Safety and Defense guide can be found at http://www.ific.org/food/safety/index.cfm.

            The problem that we face is not that we don’t have adequate safety standards, monitoring and inspection, enforcement, and tracking of food safety problems. Sometimes it seems that the problems are due to not having enough monitoring or inspection. In some cases, we aren’t using the latest technology to detect or to prevent food borne disease outbreaks.

            I have been pretty lucky over the years. I can remember cooking out on scout camping trips, and I know that I have eaten undercooked meat. I have eaten chicken on many occasions that was not fully cooked. We were fortunate back in the earlier years in that the prevalence of food borne illness was not as great as it is today. Some blame the increased incidence of food borne disease on the use of antibiotics in animal feed. In fact, the Centers for Disease and prevention (CDC) has stressed that steps are needed now to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal to encourage growth. However, the USDA has said that more research is needed. They argue that sub therapeutic levels of antibiotics, 200 grams per ton, prevent low-level infections, and prevent serious disease outbreaks.

            While the food safety regulations consist of numerous laws, it involves many different agencies that have a piece of the action. In 2005, there were over 70 interagency agreements spelling out the responsibilities for each department. There have been proposals to explore the feasibility of a single food agency. The current agencies are located within the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security.

            In addition, there are non-governmental organizations such as the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Then you have the state regulations of which the various state departments of agriculture will spend significant portions of their budget on food safety programs.

            Then the food and agriculture industry is involved in research and development, private testing, quality control, adhering to government regulations, and education of the consumer so that they know how to handle and cook the products to insure safety.

            Consumers should also do everything within their power to prevent the spoilage of meat and produce and to prevent food borne illnesses. Once consumers get food products home they should do everything to keep the kitchen sanitary. Favorite places for bacteria to hide in the home are sponges, dish towels, aprons, cutting boards, sinks, counter tops, and wooden utensils. Bacteria can be spread by knives or utensils or even hands.

            In order for bacteria to grow, all they need is nourishment, moisture a favorable temperature and time to grow. The bacteria can multiply until they reach higher populations. In some cases, the bacteria produce toxins that cause the food borne illness.

            The CDC estimates that as many as 5,000 Americans die each year from food borne illnesses and over 76 million people get sick. As many as 325,000 people get hospitalized each year due to food related illnesses. In addition to the spread of contamination, the food borne illnesses can originate within the meat or on the shell, from unsafe water, or from human fecal material. A Hepatitis A epidemic a few years ago came from Mexico on green onions. An investigation found that the plants were contaminated from sewage from irrigation water. Other outbreaks have been spread by food handlers who did not properly wash their hands. Although not human food related, pet foods from China were found to be contaminated with pesticides which resulted in pet food recalls and treatment for the sickened animals.

            The best way to deal with food borne illness is to prevent it. The Partnership for Food Safety Education-a coalition of government, consumer, and industry groups- launched its fight BAC! consumer education campaign in 1997 to promote safe food handling practices and encourage behavior changes among consumers. This of course promotes cooking the meat thoroughly.

            There have also been technological advances such as irradiation of food, new anti-microbial washes, and bacterial sprays to eliminated bacteria from food products during processing.

            The federal government can do its job, but the consumer is the one that must practice food safety at home for the system to work.

 

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