How Safe is Our Food?

Have you been thinking lately about how safe is our food? I think most folks for the most part don't really give it a second thought on most days. Don't we just take it for granted that nothing bad would happen from consuming every day ordinary products that have been on the market for years? Do we may be think in the back of our minds, heck these guys have been in business for over ten years or what ever the case may be, they have the process down by now? Don't they?

I think that I have made the assumption that these manufacturers have it down. The truth is not necessarily so. Especially when you're talking about food. Food can become tainted rather easily and it's perishable. Have you seen all the headlines about the company called Peanut Corporation of America?

My personal opinion is that what Peanut Corporation of America did was wrong. They knew their Georgia plant tested out bad for Salmonella back in 2007. And yet they choose to ignore it. They choose to keep producing their peanut butter paste any way. They choose to sell it to seventy other companies that produce other products from it such as cookies, cereal and crackers to give some examples. They choose their path.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has concluded their investigation of Peanut Corporation of America. There findings were that "Peanut Corporation of America is responsible." What does that mean? It could mean that they will be up for civil liability charges and even criminal charges. I understand that in the neighborhood of 500 people have become ill and nine people are dead.

Back in 2007 another plant called Con Agra had a pretty big recall because of salmonella out breaks in peanut butter. The brands affected were Peter Pan and Great Value. I think that people want to be able to rule out that certain brands or products are not affected when these salmonella out breaks are announced. This morning, two years later I read that peanut butter in a jar was not effected. This is great news to me! You see in just the last two weeks my husband and I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, made from peanut butter in a jar. No side effects occurred. I sure am glad because I just got up to see the brand and it was Great Value. I guess they cleaned up their act in the last two years. Lucky for us!

The FDA reported "state inspection records show a pattern of unsanitary conditions over several years." So, what does this mean? I understand there was mold and roaches found. The thought of this is not a pretty picture. Here's my question to you, if these conditions occurred over years than why weren't they closed down? Should they be closed down for those reasons?

Can the FDA and the CDA (Center for Disease Control) protect us? Can they protect us fast enough so there are fewer deaths? I think we want to believe that they do a pretty good job overall. But it's a pretty big country with a huge amount of manufacturing companies to be policed. So that raised the question to begin with of how safe is out food? Maybe overall, we have been luckier than we think that there hasn't been more life threatening situations occurring.