Danger in the American Food Supply

One of America's favorite food pastimes, the consumption of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches has become a high-risk action in a nation that is increasingly suffering from food safety issues. Once again, the American comfort food has been blighted by a national salmonella epidemic brought on by sloppy handling and poor business decisions. In 2007, an outbreak of salmonella was linked to ConAgra's Peter Pan brand after more than 300 people became ill. After years of questionable practices, the Peanut Corporation of America has been indicted for shipping salmonella tainted peanut products for various industry applications and school lunches resulting in 9 deaths, over 70 hospitalizations and at least 600 reported poisonings. Food banks have been purging peanut butter products at a time when a declining economy has increased the need for stocks of food. Peanut butter is considered a major source of protein for millions of Americans on limited incomes. The reality is that the tainted peanut butter crisis has hit squarely in the heart of some of the most physically and financially vulnerable Americans, ranging from children to the elderly.

There have been increasing high-profile outbreaks of tainted food with consumer illness in the United States. A strain of salmonella carried in peppers from Mexico sickened 1,400 people from April to August 2007, followed by an E. coli epidemic in 2006 that was traced to California spinach killing three people. Melamine poisoning from Chinese products killed and sickened pets across the nation in 2007. In the summer of 2008, there was a massive recall of tomatoes and a debacle that stretched for months while jalapeno peppers were the culprit.

Salmonella bacteria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain and usually recover in a few days. In some cases, salmonella infection can result in the organism invading the bloodstream, producing more severe illnesses or death.

The impact of this food crisis reaches pets and wildlife as well. Peanut butter and peanut paste, the main offenders in this crisis, are common ingredients found in pet products.

More than 1,900 products have been recalled in response. It has been claimed that Peanut Corp. of America handles a mere 2.5 percent of all peanuts processed into peanut butter and peanut products. Why is the industry suffering a great reduction in sales as well as a recall for 1900 products? Poor record keeping and tracking could be to blame in a market place filled with hysteria.

An updated recall includes dry and oil roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts, peanut meal, peanut butter and peanut paste. A recent Harvard study found that 93 percent of respondents knew about the peanut butter recall, but fewer than half knew that some cakes, snack bars, cookies and brownies also were recalled. The prevalence of peanut and peanut products to boost protein and taste is more common than you might think.

The Food and Drug Administration is under fire once again for neglect regarding manufacturing inspections. The FDA failed to recheck the Peanut Corporation's Blakely, Georgia manufacturing site after an inspection in 2001 showed multiple health violations. The Peanut Corporation facility in Plainview, Texas operated as unlicensed and uninspected for nearly four years. The Peanut Corporation, recently filing for bankruptcy, has recently been linked to criminal conduct in the processing of peanut products.

The FDA, generally considered as the chief inspector for the nation, is routinely capable of basic checks for about 1 per cent of the American food supply. This has posed a particular problem for imported food brought into the United States. The FDA admits to being in a state of crisis. Government reform has not worked well for government agencies in the past and FDA funding has been slow in coming. The nation's food system is in need of a complete overhaul to insure the safety of the American food supply. Companies like Peanut Corporation of America are more concerned about the corporate bottom line than public health. With that in mind, food producers and manufacturers cannot be trusted to provide safe food to consumers without real compliance and supervision. The recent economic downturn is the direct result of a corporate financial crisis that has fully demonstrated the moral bankruptcy of Corporate America. How can any confidence exist in a food safety system that doesn't work? Has food safety become an outdated notion?