Publication date:
15 January 2015Length of book:
216 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442238398
Food safety has fast become one of the nation’s top issues. Three thousand people die each year in the U.S. from foodborne illnesses. Another 48 million are sickened annually and our government fails to protect us. Many foods and additives that we eat every day have been banned for years in other countries. Our government food safety agencies move in reverse--cutting back on inspections, allowing food producers to inspect themselves, and permitting the vast majority of potentially adulterated foods to enter this country without benefit of any testing or inspection.
How, in a country so advanced in most areas, could we have descended to this alarming state of food safety? One answer: Budget cuts and bureaucrats. Eat, Drink, and Be Wary examines the multitude of dangers in food production, transportation, storing, and preparation that result in this shocking number of preventable illnesses and deaths. It takes a broad and detailed look, in all food groups, at the problems and potential solutions in food safety practices, inspections, and enforcements.
This book answers the questions and concerns of millions of Americans who have reached new levels of serious doubts about the safety of our food. Charles Duncan points readers to the dangers to look for in deli foods, raw milk, seafood, poultry, eggs, beef, and others. For consumers who care about the food they eat, this book details the dangers, offers direction for choosing safe foods, and provides a critique of our current system that suggests ways it can be fixed, or at least improved.
How, in a country so advanced in most areas, could we have descended to this alarming state of food safety? One answer: Budget cuts and bureaucrats. Eat, Drink, and Be Wary examines the multitude of dangers in food production, transportation, storing, and preparation that result in this shocking number of preventable illnesses and deaths. It takes a broad and detailed look, in all food groups, at the problems and potential solutions in food safety practices, inspections, and enforcements.
This book answers the questions and concerns of millions of Americans who have reached new levels of serious doubts about the safety of our food. Charles Duncan points readers to the dangers to look for in deli foods, raw milk, seafood, poultry, eggs, beef, and others. For consumers who care about the food they eat, this book details the dangers, offers direction for choosing safe foods, and provides a critique of our current system that suggests ways it can be fixed, or at least improved.
Veteran journalist Duncan demonstrates that fears about food safety in the U.S. are not unfounded. Bit by bit, he examines "our enormous food safety problems," the reasons why the government has failed to protect consumers, and the consequences of such lax oversight. Contamination can affect every "phase of our food chain, from the wheat and corn fields, grazing cattle, slaughterhouses, egg farms, and dairies to our oceans and bays." Meanwhile, global imports generally do not receive proper or sufficient inspection, either. The FDA, for example, inspects less than two percent of foods shipped from China (and more than half of Chinese food processing and packaging firms fail that country’s own safety inspections). Chapters on items such as produce, poultry, and eggs highlight similar themes. According to Duncan, the American government drags its feet and has kept secret public information about enforcement, closures, and seizures of food processors, protecting big businesses at the public’s expense. Subsequent discussions on milk, seafood, and processed meats strike cautionary tones as well. . . .Duncan’s work is comprehensive and readers concerned with the safety and reliability of their foods will appreciate his efforts.