The American public relies on federal regulators to keep the food which is produced in the United States and imported/exported, safe for the public who will eventually consume it. What happens when the regulatory agencies do not fulfill the promise as shown in the news when a disease outbreak occurs? Evidently, not much. Otherwise, the incentive to keep food pathogen-free would be a higher priority. Recent news shows this to be the case which is cause for concern moving into the future.
According to a recent news brief in 'Politico Agriculture,' the Food and Drug Administration's regulatory staff are failing at detecting salmonella in ground turkey and chicken:
TRACKING POULTRY'S SALMONELLA PROGRESS: New USDA data shows more chicken processors met federal salmonella standards in 2018, while ground turkey plants took a step backward, Helena reports.Significant portions of the poultry industry are still not meeting the Food Safety and Inspection Service's performance standards, which effectively set a cap on the percentage of samples per plant that test positive for salmonella. (The limit is 13.5 percent for ground turkey processors and 25 percent for ground chicken plants, for example.)— Turkey trouble: The FSIS data shows more than 46 percent of ground turkey plants did not meet this standard last year, including 68 percent of larger plants (up from 47 percent in 2017).— Nearly 66 percent of whole chicken plants reached USDA's highest level of compliance, or Category 1, a significant improvement over 2017.
As noted in the excerpt above, the food coming out of food processing plants need not be 'pathogen-free' which is surprising on one hand. Normally, a typical American would think that any tainted poultry would be rejected. The true inspections are usually underperforming the average American's expectation.
Of course, the average American has little clue as to the regulatory guidelines on such food coming out of the food processing plants. Which is why I show the excerpt above. The importance of properly handling the poultry or other meat or food is of great importance. With the relaxed atmosphere at the regulatory agencies which has been promoted by President Trump, the duty falls on each of us to be extremely vigilante in cooking and handling our food at each step.
Education is the key to success. Change might be slow at either the regulatory agency or poultry processing plants, but at least each of us can take immediate action to protect ourselves from harm and possibly getting food poisoning. Reach out to your elected representative and express your concern about the relaxed nature of the regulatory system. Ask what improvements are possible and under what timeline? Take the time to learn about the issues and possible solutions.
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