After all, the salmonella poisoning that so far has sickened 1,319 people was originally thought to stem from the nation's tomato supply. That caused a hardship for the nation's tomato growers; before it was determined the salmonella was actually traced to jalapeno peppers from a farm located in Mexico.The debacle raises new questions about the safety of the food supply, and the process and protocols that regulate an industry that feeds 350 million Americans several times a day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta estimates that 76 million Americans are sickened each year from some kind of food-borne virus, bacteria, parasite, toxin, metal or infectious protein in their food.
Five thousand each year will die.
It should be noted that most healthy individuals will battle the nasty effects of a food-borne illness quite effectively—and many of those cases are relatively minor and, therefore, never reported. However, Americans who have health issues, weak immune systems, elderly, frail, or children will be put at greater risk when eating tainted food.
And according to experts you can never, ever be completely sure that the nation's food supply is completely safe. The recent salmonella food poisoning outbreak that will surely result in additional lawsuits, appears to prove that point.
Critics take issue with the length of time it took to isolate the cause of the most recent outbreak of Salmonella saintpaul, originally linked to tomatoes. It has been suggested that part of the problem involves the way in which produced and processed and sold. Farms will take tomatoes and peppers, for example, to large packing plants. There, they are mingled, sorted and boxed for shipping, only to be sold loose in the store—which means consumers don't have access to the original packaging.
And while the food safety system in the United States is considered one of the best in the world when compared with other nations, it might be too good: it has been reported that more than a dozen separate agencies play a role in assuring the safety of the nation's food supply. However, critics say that the divisions are not clear.
For example, cheese pizza is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas pepperoni pizza falls under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Agriculture.
According to Marion Nestle, an author who has written extensively on the politics of food, all that overlap can actually be a problem and prove less effective as the nation's food supply continues to expand globally, with more middlemen involved in the transporting of food.
As far as buying produce, it's a bit of a Catch 22. Larger, commercial farms have many more checks and balances in place than, say, a small family farm that could ill afford such process. However, with the large, commercial farm and the support mechanisms that move all that food around, you lose the intimacy with the food, and it's harder to track.
READ MORE SALMONELLA PEPPERS LEGAL NEWS
With a small, family farm—such as those who frequent community farmer's markets—the operators not only grow the produce, they eat it too. A consumer can put a face to the tomato, or the pepper, ask how it is grown, ask what chemicals are used, and ultimately how it is handled.
The tomato, or the pepper you hold in your hands, has a history you can trace. With produce borne from a much larger, commercial operation, the journey is much harder to confirm.
More lawsuits are expected to stem from the salmonella and peppers issue. In the meantime, author Nestle told the Washington Post today that "what probably would have to happen is that a very, very powerful member of Congress would have to have a particularly bad incident in his immediate family to get action."