About Me

Morrisville, New York
Hello Everyone!!! Being new to the Blogging World, this can be a little overwhelming, so please be patient. I'm a student at Morrisville State College and as a semester long project I have chosen to blog on various (and sometimes arguable) aspects of the dairy industry. Keep watching for a weekly post on issues I feel are important to today's dairy industry. Growing up on a farm in Central New York, I've experienced the ups and downs that many others have gone through. I have formed my own opinions on various topics and have heard many others. Keep watching for Frosty's Farm Factoids.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

For Your Safety...

In November, the United States Senate passed a legislation to update food safety regulations, for the first time since 1930's. Why did it take so long to update food safety regulations? In an article I found related to the updated regulations, it said that 1 in 4 people have food illnesses a year. This results in about 5000 deaths per year!! That means 5000 people have died a year because of unsafe food! That is scary stuff. When ever anyone tells you that you have a 1 in 4 chance of something, those are pretty good odds. So the odds are high that you too can become a victim of food related illnesses.

In the legislation there is a section that is new, it sets standards on import foods. Why wasn't that set before? In my thoughts, that means the food we are importing are more likely to be contaminated than the foods we are exporting. Isn't it suppose to be you take care of yourselves and family before you take care of others? So much of our food supply relies on imports so why isn't our nation focused on ourselves first? In order for food to enter our country it should meet the same standards or better than the foods we are sending out.

I do have to say, by implementing the new food safety laws, farmers will have to be inspected more and our own food will be inspected closer. But everyone will be more at ease consuming that hamburger or tomato. Dairy producers are going the have stricter regulations when it comes to their milk being shipped as well. When it comes to dairy, the US was actually behind the rest of the nations in their regulations of somatic cell count. But with the new regulations we are comparable, which can increase our export market for that.

I personally am glad that this new legislation has been passed. It seemed like we were constantly hear about various food recalls.  With this legislation I know that I can eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with more ease.

Here is where I found my information.

Layton, L. (2010 , November 30). Senate Passes Sweeping Food Safety Bill. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112903881.html

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2 comments:

  1. Me, My Money and MarriageFebruary 5, 2011 at 7:50 PM

    I am concerned that the American Farmer is losing more control of his/her ability to make decision. Does the US really need more regulation? Or do farmers and factories in other countries need more regulation? And who should pay for this regulation? Why should the burden be placed on the US tax payer?

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  2. Heather M. FrostFebruary 6, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    I feel the same that the American Farmer is losing control and no matter what they do it's always the government who has ultimate control. But I also feel that with the foods we are importing should not be our burden to inspect. It should be inspected to our standards, but the exporter should be footing the bill. Everyone should have the same standards for importing and exporting, it would make the Agriculture industry world wide a lot uniform and easier.

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