Safe Food and Drugs

Question 1

What are some statistics about food in the US?

Answer 1

1) 1/6 americans develop foodborne illness a year
2) 128,000 are hospitalized a year
3) 3000 die a year

Question 2

What are risks to food safety?

Answer 2

1) Food poisoning
2) Additives
3) Contaminants
4) Pesticide residues
5) Natural toxins in food
6) Allergens
7) Irradiation

Question 3

How can other substances be added to foods?

Answer 3

1) Grow naturally
2) Growing or manufacturing processes
(Contamination of animal facilities, use of fertilizers, addition of chemicals to improve growth process, addition of chemicals as preservatives)

Question 4

What are some causes of risks?

Answer 4

1) unhygienic packaging/shipping

2) Unhygienic food handling in grocery stores or restaurants or institutions

Question 5

Genetically modified foods

Answer 5

Could be small risk

Question 6

Irradiation

Answer 6

Small risk

Question 7

Contamination with bacteria

Answer 7

Big risk

Question 8

Additives and pesticide exposure

Answer 8

Could be a small risk

Question 9

Benefits of genetically modified foods

Answer 9

1) Higher crop yields
2) Potentially less expensive
3) Improved quality
4) Can have higher nutrient contents
5) Withstand vagaries of weather patterns

Question 10

What are the potential risks of GMOs

Answer 10

1) Modified with bacteria or viruses
2) Potential for allergic responses
3) Could take over similar crops through cross pollination
4) Messing with nature
5) Market domination by a few firms

Question 11

Why were GM foods initially created?

Answer 11

To achieve various characteristics

2) Kills microbial food contaminants

Question 12

What is the purpose of adding stuff to foods?

Answer 12

1) Prevent deficiency diseases

Question 13

What are some examples of food additives?

Answer 13

1) Vitamin D added to milk: eliminated rickets
2) Folic acid in flour and rice: Various birth defects
3) Iodine in table salt
4) Niacin in bread
5) Vitamin A in golden rice

Question 14

What are the pros of organic

Answer 14

1) Fewer pesticide residues
2) May activate more natural pesticides
3) may have more nutrients

Question 15

What are the cons of organic

Answer 15

1) From individual perspective: cost
2) Organic and carbon footprint
3) From societal perspective: cost and availability feeding world’s poor

Question 16

What was the Green revolution

Answer 16

use of then modern agriculture techniques to dramatically increase crop yields in low income countries

Question 17

Green Revolution did what?

Answer 17

Increased product 3 fold, cut prices by 1/2 to 1/3, credited with averting 1 billion deaths due to starvation

Question 18

Where must food production be regulated?

Answer 18

1) Hundreds of thousands of food processing plants and service outlets
2) Global preparation and distribution
3) Multiple different issues
4) Resources needed to find sources of, or better to prevent problems
5) Coordination of government authorities

Question 19

At the federal level who does the regulating?

Answer 19

USDA–Food Safety and Inspection Service, FDA

Question 20

USDA: Food Safety and Inspection Service

Answer 20

1) Safety of meat, poultry and processed eggs
2) Daily inspection of processing plants
3) On site inspector when slaughtering plant active
4) 20% of federally regulated foods
5) 17% of food borne illnesses
6) 1.03 billion budget in 2016

Question 21

FDA

Answer 21

1) All other foods (additives, pesticides, dietary supplements)
2) Plant inspections were every 10 years
3) 80% of federally regulated foods
4) 67% of food borne illnesses
5) 800 employees in 2015
6) Budget of 1.5 B

Question 22

What did the FDA Food Safety Moderinzation Act do?

Answer 22

1) Emphasized prevention rather than cure
2) Required increased plant inspections
3) Food companies to establish written plans for safe manufacture
4) More frequent inspection of foreign food

Question 23

What is inspection like at the state and local level?

Answer 23

1) Highly variable with responsibility generally within the state health department
2) LHDs conduct restaurant inspections

Question 24

HACCP System

Answer 24

Intended to prevent hazards, rather than reliance on inspections

2) Relies on identifying problems throughout food handling process
3) Originally developed in 1960s with collaboration in Pillsbury Company

Question 25

PulseNet

Answer 25

1) Perform DNA fingerprinting of food borne organisms

2) Maintain library, tracks outbreaks, find sources quickly

Question 26

What were some examples of worthless medications/harmful

Answer 26

1) Banbar: Diabetes
2) Lash-Lure: Eyelash dye that blinded many women
3) Radithor: Radium containing tonic that caused slow and painful deaths
4) Wilhide Exhaler which falsely promised to cure TB

Question 27

Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

Answer 27

Motivated by 100 deaths due to toxic solvent. Added FDA responsibility for cosmetics and medical technology

Question 28

Kefauver-Harris Amendments

Answer 28

Mandated efficacy as well as safety, more stringent drug trials more access to drug company, motivated by thaliomide tragedy

Question 29

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act:

Answer 29

Prohibits FDA from regulating herbs and supplements despite risks of several supplements

Question 30

Medical Device Amendments

Answer 30

Established 3 classes of medical devices with different levels of regulation