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Home Front: Politix
FDA: New Rules Will Make Food Safer
2013-01-06
[An Nahar] The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year.

The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.

The long-overdue regulations could cost businesses close to half a billion dollars a year to implement, but are expected to reduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. The new guidelines were announced Friday.
That works out to $166,666.66 per theoretical death. If it reduces the number of deaths -- it doesn't say they're gonna get them all -- by half it'll be $333,333.33 per death. If course there is no other possible way to reduce those theoretical deaths, is there?
Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.
Posted by:Fred

#8  And more expensive!
Posted by: newc   2013-01-06 17:12  

#7  Sounds like clean water might be helpful here, it usually is.
Posted by: Shipman   2013-01-06 13:29  

#6  From a Purdue Extension report.
"Q: Where did the Salmonella come from? How did it get on the cantaloupes?
A: While it isn't yet clear how the Salmonella got on the affected cantaloupes, there are some basic things we do know about how Salmonella can get on produce. Salmonella is common in the environment. The bacteria can live in the digestive tracts of several animals, including humans, wild animals, livestock, and pets. Salmonella also is commonly found in the feces of wild and domestic birds, and often associated with
reptiles and amphibians. Salmonella can be found in soil and water sources (such as streams, rivers, and ponds).

In the field, a cantaloupe could become contaminated if it came in contact with animal
feces or soil. During or after harvest, a cantaloupe could be contaminated through
contact with contaminated people, equipment, or water. Good agricultural and sanitation
practices — such as following strict precautions with manure, ensuring all employees
wash hands, and using clean water (to irrigate, wash produce, etc.) — can minimize the
possibility of contamination."


Can't stop bird's from pooping. I suppose that the Food Safety and Inspection Service can make sure that Farm outhouses have hand sanitizers and that irrigation water is routinely checked.

Looks like zapping produce is an evolving technology.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey   2013-01-06 12:28  

#5  Nope, control is.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2013-01-06 11:42  

#4  Unfortunately, new rules won't make food any safer. We've gotten about as good as we are going to get unless all food is irradiated and processed and eaten in sterile conditions. More red tape and government ain't gonna help.

Of course... helping isn't the actual goal of the government. It is control.
Posted by: DarthVader   2013-01-06 10:20  

#3  Irradiation would have prevented most of those 'outbreaks'. However, the same crowd that runs amok about genetically altered food plays the same Luddite hand in obstructing implementation.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-01-06 08:08  

#2  Group punishment.... always effective. Euro-style 'farmers markets' are the actual target. We must consume only the gov't approved and provided biscuits.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-01-06 05:35  

#1  Heat the tar, pluck the chickens and stretch the ropes. Can farm confiscations be next? Why, sure they can.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man   2013-01-06 05:24  

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