How Safe Is the Food Supply?
Uptick in health problems points to holes in the safety net

(HealthDay News) -- Significant flaws in the U.S. food-safety system have made recalls and food poisonings more common, health experts say.

In recent years, U.S. consumers have seen an increasing number of recalls involving a wide variety of foods, including beef patties, chicken and turkey pot pies, spinach and peanut butter.

An estimated 76 million cases of food-borne illness occur each year in the United States , resulting in the hospitalization of more than 300,000 people and 5,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The increase in food recalls is "an indication of the problems we have in the system," Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union in Washington , D.C. , told HealthDay .

There's "heightened awareness about it because the media is picking up on things," he said. "The CDC data shows an uptick of food poisoning cases. And, in a heightened environment of attention, the government acts more."

Hansen cited the industrialization and centralization of the food system in the United States , along with lax oversight and inspection, as major factors that have contributed to problems with food safety.

"When you start concentrating things, a little problem can become quite a big one," he said.

Globalization is another major issue, according to Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center .

"We're getting products from all over the world more frequently now than ever before," Tierno told HealthDay . "The diarrheal disease in the Third World experienced last week may visit your house tomorrow."

When these trends -- industrialization, centralization and globalization -- are combined with food safety regulatory deficiencies, the problems can become magnified.

For example, a single beef patty contains meat from several different animals, and one contaminated animal "can screw up a big batch of ground beef," noted Dr. Helene Andrews-Polymenis, assistant professor of microbial and molecular pathogenesis at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

But it can be difficult to identify sick animals, experts say, because those with potentially harmful germs in their intestines generally show no symptoms.

"Obviously-sick animals get removed from the slaughterhouse, but these animals aren't sick," Andrews-Polymenis told HealthDay . "We have to find better ways to figure out what's going on. One of the ways is doing basic microbial testing on carcasses. The more public money spent on research and food-safety issues, the less we're going to have these problems."

Supplies of meat used for hamburger patties are often used from one day to the next and, if not kept under strict conditions, can provide an ideal setting for bacterial growth, Hansen said.

And though businesses and government have the most responsibility for food safety, there are things consumers can do to protect themselves, he said.

He suggests cooking foods to a higher temperature to kill bacteria. And avoid cross contamination: If you've cut raw meat on a cutting board, clean the board and knife before using it to prepare vegetables, for instance.

"People can focus on things more locally and go to farmers' markets," Hansen said.

On the Web

To learn more about food-borne illness, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Michael Hansen, Ph.D., senior scientist, Consumers Union, Washington, D.C.; Philip Tierno, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and immunology, New York University Medical Center, New York City; Helene Andrews-Polymenis, D.V.M., Ph.D., assistant professor of microbial and molecular pathogenesis, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov)
Author: Robert Preidt
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2008
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