Refuge51

Title
Report Slams U.S. Food Safety

Link
Report Slams U.S. Food Safety System - MSN Health & Fitness - Nutrition
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Excerpt

Overhaul of outdated inspection practices desperately needed, critics say
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter
Overhaul of outdated inspection practices desperately needed, critics say

WEDNESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- The current system that guarantees the safety of food in the United States is in a state of crisis, a new report finds.

Gaps in the food safety system include out-of-date laws, poor use of resources, and inconsistencies among agencies protecting food safety, according to the report Fixing Food Safety: Protecting America's Food From Farm-to-Fork, released Wednesday by Trust for America's Health.

"One in four Americans are sickened by food-borne illness each year, that's 76 million people," Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health said during a morning teleconference Wednesday. "That number is far too high, and major gaps in our nation's food safety system are to blame."

"The major problem with the current food safety system is that no one person is in charge," Levi said. "Instead, there are total of 15 federal agencies that play a role in administering some 30 laws related to food safety."

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Comment:

I am disturbed by this because phasing out taking 10 years isn't a quick enough solution!

"The report Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America calls for limiting use of drugs in animals destined for the food supply. The report also criticizes large feeding lots that bring together tens of thousands of animals and releasing large quantities of animal waste that contaminate water supplies and spread disease.[/b]

The report calls for phasing out these troubling animal farming practices over the next 10 years. Some of these practices include crating pregnant sows to prevent them from turning around, which restricts them from nursing, small cages for egg-laying hens, and force-feeding geese and ducks."

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