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Grace Hull
Rogers
Government
17 October 2016
Safe Food Act of 2017
Do you really know how your food has been cleaned and prepared before you received
it? Grocery stores are filled with food that has been processed and packaged. The same products
are also shipped to restaurants to be prepared for meals. What many customers do not know is
that the food they are consuming could very likely be contaminated thus caused them to become
ill. Foodborne illness outbreaks are fairly common. Once it is traced back to the source, the
preparation is often where the mistakes were made. Some people believe that the inspections and
regulations on processed food companies are strict enough, but if they were, the number of
foodborne outbreaks would be far less. The Safe Food Act of 2017 will increase the quantity and
quality of inspections on processed food and restaurants, require products to be evaluated before
being shipped, and require any preparation space to be thoroughly cleaned with proper supplies
before any food comes into contact with it.
Restaurant and processed food inspections need improvement. Currently they are not
being inspected thoroughly enough or often enough to assist in decreasing foodborne illness
outbreaks. Due to the lack of quantity and quantity of inspections, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick,
128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases yearly (Causes and Prevention of
Foodborne Illness). This is crucial to the health of Americans since it is a substantial number of
the human population, no matter how restaurants or processed food companies attempt to word

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the results to negate how many people are becoming ill, over something that can be easily
controlled. Cross-contamination during food preparation has been identified as an important
factor associated with foodborne illness, but it is still occurring commonly(Forsythe; Hayes). If
inspections became more thorough and frequent, then the companies and restaurant would be
held responsible for unclean preparation spaces and be forced to improve. New inspection
requirements would be beneficial and help prevent disease, and the products should also be
inspected before getting distributed.
Before companies can ship off a batch of products there should be mandatory testing to
prevent illness. Many outbreaks come from a bad batch of food being distributed to restaurants
and stores which sell them to be consumed. If the products were tested prior to being shipped,
then the contaminated food could be contained before there is an issue. As of May 16, 2014, 11
cases of E. coli O157:H7 in 4 states (Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio) from tainted
ground beef from Wolverine Packing Company of Detroit, Michigan, which could have been
prevented altogether (Kotwicki). If the meat had been tested before the outbreak, it could have
been avoided altogether. Another incident that could have been prevented was, in October
through November 2015, 45 people contracted E. coli from Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants.
The cases were in Washington State, California, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Oregon. At
least 16 were hospitalized. The outbreak warranted the closing and sanitization of over 40
Chipotle restaurants across Washington and Oregon. The restaurants have since reopened after
discarding all supplies and ordering fresh ingredients(Multistate Outbreaks of Shiga). While
Chipotle did the correct thing ad shut down almost immediately after knowledge of the outbreak,
it could have been prevented if the products were checked before being sent to the restaurants.
All products need to be checked before being distributed to avoid outbreak. Incase contaminated

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food is shipped without being properly tested, then a clean preparation area will help minimize
the spread between products.
Preparation spaces need to be thoroughly cleaned with proper supplies before any food
comes into contact with it. Foodborne illness spreads are commonly spread when clean healthy
food comes into contact with contaminated food, or when the work space contaminates the food.
Due to the fact that the meat and food industry are vulnerable to a variety of other infectious
diseases that can manifest in food processing areas due mainly to poor personal hygiene and
processing sanitation practices, which in turn can develop the growth of bacteria, viruses, molds,
and yeasts, work spaces need to be clean at all times (BC Cook Articulation Committee). In this
case, the meat could be placed on a tainted surface to be cut and ends up contaminated.
Companies must be cautious because, if contaminated water or ice is used to wash, pack, or
chill fruits or vegetables, the contamination can spread to those items(The Food Production
Chain). Companies must take proper precautions so that everything that comes in contact with
any of their products is clean and safe to use. Some people believe there are no precautions to
foodborne illness outbreaks that are not already being used, but they are incorrect.
There are many different beliefs when it comes to inspections. Some believe that the
inspections are effective as they are now and all the products are healthy or else they wouldnt be
able to be sold to the public.These people want the government to stop increasing requirements
on businesses that are already full of rules and regulations . One example of how this is falso was
in August through September 2015, over 300 people were infected with Salmonella. The bulk
of the cases were in California and Arizona with the states of California and Texas having one
fatality each (Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella). Foodborne outbreaks are fairly common and
easily preventable if the proper precautions are taken. Many people do not realize that there are

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an enormous amount of antibiotics (drugs used to treat infectious disease in human) used to
make the burgers, bacon and nuggets. About 13 million pounds a year are fed to chickens, cows,
and pigs to make them grow faster to compensate for unsanitary conditions. Thats about four
times that used to treat sick people (Collins). The meat being consumed from these animals can
be harmful to the consumer if not properly checked for safety. There are many different beliefs of
if the government should tighten or loosen the regulations it has on different matters, but the
processed food and restaurant industry need them to be tightened to keep the public safe.
The Safe Food Act of 2017 will prevent foodborne illness by improving the amount and
thoroughness of inspections, create new regulations on testing before products are sold, and
require clean preparation spaces at all times. This will help minimize the spreading of illnesses
nationwide and prevent unnecessary deaths and hospitalization. Without these new regulations,
the spreading of foodborne illness will continue and more lives will be lost due to a preventable
issue.

Works Cited
BC Cook Articulation Committee. "Diseases Associated with Meat." Meat Cutting and
Processing for Food Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.

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"Causes and Prevention of Foodborne Illness." University of Rhode Island Food Safety
Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.
Collins, Tracy Brown. "The Fast Food Industry Encourages the Overuse of Antibiotics in Farm
Animals." Fast Food. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2005. 78-79. Print.
"The Food Production Chain - How Food Gets Contaminated." Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 16
Sept.

2016.

Forsythe S. J.; Hayes, P. R. (1988), Food Hygiene, Microbiology and HACCP. A Chapman and
Hall Food Science Book. Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg.
Kotwicki, Lauren. "Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. Coli
O157:H7". Food Safety and Inspection Service. United States Department of
Agriculture.

Retrieved 20 May 2014.

"Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Poona Infections Linked to Imported Cucumbers (Final

Update)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.
"Multistate Outbreaks of Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia Coli O26 Infections Linked to
Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurants (Final Update)."Centers for Disease Control
and

Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 16

Sept.

2016.