Food Safety Issues in the USA

The bacteria, parasites and viruses that cause food-borne illnesses cannot be seen with the naked eye. Often, contaminated food does not look, smell or taste any different from non-contaminated food. And many pathogens spread quickly under the right conditions. These factors make food-borne illnesses difficult to control, even with the strictest of measures. The U.S. government is committed to ensuring the safety of the nation's food supplies and takes many preventative and corrective measures to minimize risk to consumers.

Statistics

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control's Food-Related Illness and Death from Known Pathogens study, an estimated 76 million people become sick from food-borne illnesses in the United States every year. Additionally, food-borne illness accounts for about 325,000 hospitalizations and about 5,000 deaths yearly. The most common food-borne illnesses are Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella.

While it is not possible to eliminate every potential threat, when food is grown, harvested, handled, inspected, refrigerated and cooked properly, risks for food-borne illness are drastically minimized.

HACCP

The Federal government recommends that U.S. restaurants and food manufacturers use the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system, or HACCP, to provide consumers with the safest possible product.

In the HACCP system, there are seven main principles to follow:

1) Conduct a hazard analysis. This means finding any weak spots in production where food could be potentially mishandled or temperature-abused.

2) Determine critical control points. This step involves determining where to tighten controls as food is passed from one stage of production to the next.

3) Establish critical limits. This means determining the maximum or minimum temperature, cook time and shelf life required for each product to avoid contamination.

4) Establish monitoring procedures.

5) Establish corrective actions. Strategies must be in place to immediately correct missteps and problems.

6) Establish verification procedures.

7) Establish record-keeping procedures.

Food Recalls

Recalls occur when a food product is found to be contaminated or adulterated. A recall is done for the protection of the public and is a voluntary measure. In cases where a company does not choose to recall an item, the federal department responsible for the product category can request one.

FSIS

Under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service, or FSIS, inspects all raw meat, poultry and eggs for interstate and foreign commerce. Meat and poultry products are also monitored as they leave their respective plants. The plants themselves are also federally inspected.

Seafood

Seafood in the United States is not monitored by the USDA, but by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, through its 1946 Agricultural Marketing Act. The service is voluntary and includes product grading, sanitation inspection and process and product inspection.

Contacting the USDA

Due to massive recalls in the early 2000s of spinach, peanut butter and ground beef, many people have questions about food safety. The USDA has an automated response system for food safety questions, which can be found at:
fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/Ask_Karen/index.
It also has a meat and poultry hotline at [phone] or [phone] (TDD/TTY).

References

• CDC: Food Related Illness and Death in the United States
• HACCP Questions and Answers
• FDA : Foods

Resources

• Government Food Safety Information
• Reader's Digest Food Safety Guide
• NOAA.gov: Seafood