Monthly Archive for February, 2009

With the recent revelation that Peanut Corporation of America knowingly shipped tainted peanut butter products around the Country, I had to stop and wonder where does our food really come from and how safe is our food supply? It’s not like this is the first outbreak of salmonella or other food borne illness to strike. There was another salmonella outbreak at a peanut plant in Georgia in 2007 and I’m sure we all remember the somewhat recent spinach scare. And of course there was the whole melamine scare from Chinese products. One contaminated ingredient can affect many different companies and products. So who is responsible for checking and making sure that the food we buy and eat is safe? One of the main regulators of food safety is the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).  They are responsible for inspecting 80% of domestic and imported food products but unbelievably they receive only 24% of federal food-safety spending (the other agency is the US Department of Agriculture which gets 76% of the food-safety money to inspect the other 20% of the food like meat and poultry).  My guess is the they are understaffed and overworked considering they didn’t even know that Peanut Corporation of America made peanut butter. It seems to me that we need more inspections, tighter regulations and harsher punishments when laws are broken. I don’t really trust that the government can regulate anything considering they couldn’t stop any of these food illness outbreaks, they couldn’t see through the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme, and they sure didn’t seem to see the signs of a failing economy until it was much too late. So can we really trust that a government agency like the FDA really has consumers best interest at heart and is earnestly checking all the foods that sit on shelves in our stores and supermarkets?  I worked as a cook in a restaurant once.  We had inspections but they always seemed to be announced.  So you know the inspectors are coming on such and such date so you clean the place up so it really shines.  The inspector comes in and gives you a passing grade and then after they leave you revert back to old habits.  I’m not saying all inspections are announced but we had quite a few that were and I didn’t really see the point to them.  So I say eat locally. Support your local organic farmer. Make your own peanut butter. Stop buying packaged and processed foods and make a healthy meal at home. Sure it costs a bit more but what is your health and the health of your family really worth?