Welcome to the forum thread for "Food Safety," the Justice Talking show for the week of March 12 - 18, 2007 and July 30 - August 5, 2007.

Headlines over tainted California spinach and e-coli contamination at Taco Bell restaurants have raised many questions about the safety of America’s food supply. With an alphabet soup of federal, state and local agencies regulating food safety from the farm to the table, most Americans presume that their food isn’t dangerous. On this edition of Justice Talking we ask what must be done to keep the food supply safe.

Please post your comments on this Justice Talking issue using this thread.

Thanks for your participation!

Laura Sider
Outreach Coordinator

At the end of the moderated discussion on food safety on the program aired yesterday, the moderator asked the guests if there was any food that they did not eat because of concerns for food safety. A food item that did not come up was raw eggs.

There was a discussion of outbreaks of avian influenza, but no discussion of salmonella. Raw eggs are an important ingredient in chocolate mousse, homemade ice cream, eggnogs and many other foods and beverages. Due to the outbreak of salmonella eteriditis, which asymptomatically infects the ovaries of healthy hens before the egg is even formed, the federal authorities are telling us simply to avoid the use of raw eggs, and to cook eggs thoroughly.

Limiting the use of such a nutritious and versatile food is a quality of life issue. Is it not biologically feasable to produce eggs that are safe to use raw or only partially cooked?

I would like to know what government and industry are doing about this, and whether organic or free-range eggs are any safer to use raw.

I believe that any debate regarding food safety and regulation is woefully incomplete when personal and family economic factors are not addressed. Millions of Americans can not afford a healthy diet. Further regulation may contribute to the throngs of starving Americans. I am not advocating a specific conclusion on the need for more or less food regulation.

I am concerned with the notion that increased labeling may further separate the poor from safe healthy foods. If foods produced in a safer manner are available at a premium, availability of said products could cloud the debate over necessity for stronger regulation. An instance of this is the availability of organic foods. The market share of organically grown produce is small, however this is not a mandate for the use of pesticides. Those who can afford organic foods often choose them. When public safety is being addressed the whole public needs to be represented, Increased labeling would use government regulation to divide food safety into have and have-not classes.

Regarding your discussion of food safety as related to various fishes we eat, it should be pointed out that farmed salmon not only have the potential for health problems for people who eat them, but there are environmental problems being created as well. We are farming Atlantic salmon in Pacific waters. A significant number of these fish have already escaped and they potentially could interbreed with native Pacific salmon and modify the genetic information that programs their lives. It is thought that migration information, among other things, might be screwed up, so that future salmon runs might be further reduced. Even though farmed salmon are far cheaper to buy, it is recommended that we boycott such purchases. It also would prove useful if it were required to state on the package where the farm was located from which this filet originated.

 

The safety of fishery products has been highlighted by the media recently because certain seafood items were stopped by the US Food & Drug Administration from entering the country due to illegal chemicals used in the ponds where the shrimp and fish were grown. The food inspection system in America is in need of a complete overhaul. Too many federal agencies are involved with their own specific food items creating duplication and waste of what little bit of money Congress appropriates for food inspection in the first place. Many state programs are in a better position to keep tainted products from being sold than a federal agency. A national White House summit should be convened to create one food agency in charge of safety which could be broad enough to address the problem of escaped farm salmon interbreeding with native Alaska salmon. Seafood products should be traceable from the water to the waiter but such a program will be difficult to enact because so many businesses are satisfied with the status quo. I hope to get some feedback on the single food inspection agency concept. The fish consumers of America need to know what kind of fish they are eating in restaurants and where it came from and was it handled under an approved food safety program. Surely that isn't too much to expect from our government.

I lived in Japan for 7 years and just got back a few months ago. Somethings changed while I was gone related to food safely that stuck out at least for me.

#1. When I go grocery shopping. About 1 of 5 things I pick up is STICKY!!  A jar of pickles, a carton of milk, a box of cookies. Whatever. I don't remember this experience of sticky items before I left

#2. At many or most food service places the employees are wearing disposable rubber gloves.

I don't know if some law was passed and if so if there was any proof of efficacy but it sure seems, watching the food service workers, that putting on rubber gloves is having the opposite of the desired effect. The problem is, with the gloves on they can't tell when their hands are dirty so they pick up some wet food, for example sun dried tomatoes coivered in oil, then they open the grill cover with their gloves not being able to feel how dirty their hands are. They spread this filth back on the food, back on handles, utencils, etc. If they were not wearing the gloves they'd notice their hands are dirty and would clean then before touching other things in the kitchen.

It also makes me wonder if the #1 issue above is for similar reasons. If stockers at the grocery store are also wearing gloves they'll have no idea if they are stocking the shelves with sticky hands and therefore making everything the put up sticky and a breeding ground for bacteria.

I don't really know how to research this issue but I really hope someone qualified can look into it.