T/R English
Why Has Eating Become So
Dangerous?
Food has got to be one of the most enjoyable necessities of life. It is an oral adventure, surpassed in flavor only by the creativity of the artist. Chef’s have many avenues of taste to craft their food into an original piece of art. With all these different forms of food come not only sensory pleasures, but sickening dangers. Why has eating become so dangerous? The increase in demand for certain foods year-round in the United States has created a dependency on imports of fruits and vegetables from third-world countries with lower food standards than ours, which has begun to cause problems country wide. Not only do consumers have to worry about imports, but also the dangers lurking inside the US. The use of antimicrobials for the US food animals is encouraging the transmission of drug-resistant germs. These germs not only spread to other animals, but pose a large threat to humans as well. In accordance to the increase in demand for food the US has had to develop new ways to make more and better foods for itself. One of these ways is by genetically altering foods, known as biotechnology. Biotechnology has given way to may new dangers in the food eaten every day in the United States.
First of all, food imports today are on the rise, which exponentially raises the dangers involved. “Americans are consuming ever-increasing amounts of imported food, with more than $33 billion in food products imported in 1996 – an increase of almost 50 percent from 1990,” claims Lawrence Goodrich in his article “Fresh Scrutiny of Food Imports”(n.page). Many of these fruits and vegetables coming from other countries are creating large outbreaks of illness throughout the US. In Jennifer Ackerman’s article, “Food: How Safe?”, she writes about a group of patients in the US who suffered food-poisoning from the same strain of Salmonella. A total of 79 patients from 13 states were infected, of which 2 died and 15 had to be hospitalized. The common factor Ackerman found was they had all eaten mangos during the past November and December. These mangos all came from a mango farm in Brazil, that when inspected was found to have toads, birds, and feces in and around the cleansing tanks which Ackerman believes is where the strain of Salmonella was absorbed into the fruit (n.page). Another problem with imports is the difference in inspection standards between the FDA and the USDA. The USDA controls the imports of meat, poultry, and some egg products and the FDA regulates seafood, fruits, and vegetables. “It [The USDA] permits exports from the 37 countries it has determined have food-safety systems similar to those in the US. In addition, Agriculture officials visually inspect every shipment of food under their jurisdiction, the run tests on about 20% to verify the effectiveness of the other countries’ controls”, says Goodrich. He goes on to explain how the FDA does not have the authority to require exporting nations to have the same safety standards, relying mainly on spot-testing and sampling directly at the ports. According to Goodrich, FDA’s spot checks fell from 8% of all shipments in 1992 to a meager 1.7%, as of last year, thanks to the rising volume of goods. Importers can easily evade the FDA inspectors by what is known as “port shopping” (n.page). According to World Disease Weekly Plus importers can take a shipment to a port where without examination FDA inspectors let in certain types of food. The magazine also notes food has been hidden in containers with furniture and other types of merchandise in an effort to slip by the inspectors. “Nearly 2500 Americans were sickened with cyclospora by Guatemalan raspberries, and hundreds of school children contracted Hepatitis A from Mexican strawberries in 1997” (“US” n.page). The danger of food-born pathogens continues to grow in the US as the demand for more foods from outside countries increases.
Not only do consumers have to worry about food from other countries, but there are dangers appearing from meats in the US itself. With the use of antimicrobials in the feed of the nation’s food animals, diseases are being spread that are resistant to modern day drugs. “Some such drugs have been in use for five decades, giving antimicrobial resistance ample time to develop and become a significant problem for the treatment of certain infections,” explains Klaus Stohr in his article “Use of Antimicrobials in Food Animals”). Stohr continues by saying several of the organisms infecting humans are transmitted through food and water, some of which, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Enterococcus, are showing increasing resistance which has been linked to the treatment of food animals with antimicrobials. “Multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli have also appeared following the use of broad spectrum antimicrobials in both livestock and humans,” says Stohr (n.page). These drugs are widely used for treatment of infections in both humans and animals. Unfortunately there are 3 factors involved in making the resistance stronger, says Stohr, dosage, length of treatment, and how the drugs themselves are administered. According to Stohr and organization known as WHO held a consultation in October of 1997 recommending that if the same antimicrobial agent is used in human therapeutics that use in growth production of animals should be terminated. “Evidence was presented which suggested that the use of antimicrobials in animals encourages the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella serotypes. Such bacteria are known to be mainly transmitted to humans in food or through direct contact with animals. A recent example is S. Typhimurium DT104, which is resistant to at least 5 antimicrobials,” he adds, going on to say, the use of these drugs has been questioned and debated since the 1950’s Stohr says (n.page). Unfortunately many of these antimicrobials are still in use today, creating many new diseases which are still incurable with modern day medicine.
Next, when one walks into a grocery store and looks at all the food, they probably think nothing of the food all around them. Little does the consumer know about how much of the food eaten every day has been genetically modified. According to Barbara Keeler in her article, “A Nation of Lab Rats” food regulations in the United States don’t require segregation or labeling of genetically engineered products. Furthermore Keeler states that in order to understand the potential problems of genetically altered foods you must first understand the process. Scientists alter the genes of living organisms by taking a gene from another species and placing it in the new altered organism. But the “transgene” does not always travel alone, sometimes carrying extra baggage such as bacteria, virus, and antibiotic resistant genes (n.page). Since all these other organisms are being transferred over any number of problems can occur, easily making someone sick from eating something never before thought dangerous. According to USA Today Magazine there is a general belief by some people that conventional crops have been provided nature or some other source to ensure the health of our bodies. Though there are many gene altering scientists who would refute that belief. “We need a food system that allows us to be informed by the best scientific thinking on food safety and environmental risk, but not one that requires people to take a 13-week course on molecular biology in order to plan a meal or sort our their feelings about genetic engineering,”(“Are” n.page). Since there is know way of truly knowing if the food being eaten has been genetically altered, the dangers this situation poses are very real. In Keeler’s article she states that according to the FDA many plants naturally produce a variety of compounds that are toxic to humans or alter food quality. Generally, these are present at levels that do not cause problems. Combining plant and animal species in genetic engineering may create new and higher levels of these toxins. The FDA also warns that genetic engineering could transfer “new and unidentified proteins” from one food into another, triggering allergic reactions in people who have no way of identifying or protecting themselves from the “offending foods” (n.page). This could be a serious threat to many people, worldwide.
Food is a very important part of life, as time goes on and demand increases more unseen problems will arise. Be it from outside countries or even the local grocery store danger lurks in every corner. The percentage of people who actually catch illnesses from food is fairly low, but that does not mean the potential isn’t there. Some things one can do to help ensure safety are, eat foods when they are in season don’t rely on other countries foods when out of season, always properly take care of and prepare foods, and try to stick with natural unadulterated foods. Making people aware of these dangers is the first step in preventing them.
Works Cited
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Goodrich, Lawrence J. “Fresh Scrutiny of Food Imports.” Christian Science Monitor. 14 May 1998: 90. Academic Search Premier. Ebsco
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Manatee Community Coll. Lib., Bradenton 18 Sept. 2002.
Keeler,
Barbara. “A Nation of Lab Rats.” Sierra. July 2001:1 Academic
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Stohr,
Klaus. “Use of Antimicrobials in Food Animals.” World Health. July
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Concern Grows Over Food Imports.” World Disease Weekly Plus. 1
Manatee