Week 11: Food Safety Flashcards
What are 3 details about the modern food production system?
Relies on off-farm inputs (fossil fuels, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, machinery)
Greater yield at lower cost
Mechanization: now, fewer farms, feeding more people
What are 5 ways the industrial agriculture damages natural resources?
Damage to natural resources
Soil: Plowing, overgrazing, excessive fertilization, other practices degrade topsoil; 25% of world’s land severely
degraded
Water: Uses 70% of global freshwater; in U.S., up to 1/3rd is non-renewable groundwater
Monocultures: Reduce biodiversity, vulnerable to pests/disease
Energy intensive: 7-10 calories input energy per calorie food produced
Emit 19-29% global GHGs, while climate change stresses food and livestock
What are the 3 manufactured agricultural inputs?
Manufactured pesticides
Synthetic fertilizers
Genetically engineered seeds/genetically modified organisms
What are 3 details about manufactured pesticides?
Pests (insects, weeds) often crop-specific, thrive in large monocultures, so industrial pesticides are applied
Heavy use has led to pesticide resistance: >500 pest species now resistant to one or more pesticides
Exposures among farmers/farmworkers and residues in food create public health risks
What are 4 details about synthetic fertilizers?
Use increased ~800% from 1960 to 2000 (Canfield et al. 2010)
N and P run-off (nutrient pollution) →
eutrophication of water bodies =
increased algal growth, algal die-off consumes O, dead zones
created
Some harmful algal blooms produce toxins affecting humans
Precision application systems help farmers reduce overuse
What are 4 details about genetically engineered seeds/genetically modified
organisms?
GM corn and soybean seeds came on market in 1996; now account for almost half of U.S. cropland (USDA 2014)
Early on, saved some farmers time/money, but has led to pesticide resistance, requiring larger volumes of herbicide glyphosate, designated a probable human carcinogen by WHO; and the use of more toxic pesticides
Consumers concerned about safety, environmental impact, and social concerns about ownership of seeds and technology
Studies to date have not found significant evidence of risk of consuming GM foods, but research ongoing
What are 4 details about industrial food animal production?
Animals raised in concentrated animal feeding operations, confined without grass/vegetation, relying on feed made from corn, soybeans
Production model exported from U.S. to China, others
Routine use of antibiotic a public health concern - resistance increasing
Animal waste also contains pathogens (e.g., Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli) associated with foodborne illness outbreaks (e.g., cattle fed grain, not their natural diet, have more pathogenic E. coli in gut)
What are 3 details about IFAP waste management?
Animals (swine, poultry, cattle) raised in U.S. CAFOs produce >40 times the amount of human waste processed by U.S. wastewater treatment plants (Graham & Nachman 2010)
No regulations requiring animal waste treatment before use (e.g., spraying on crops)
Animal waste commonly stored in large manure cesspits, which can overflow into surface water, contaminate air and shallow aquifers
What are the 6 goals of sustainable agriculture?
Goal = healthy, sustainable, resilient food system, integrating environmental health, economic viability, and social equity
Improving soil quality
Minimizing the use of pesticides and herbicides
Employing environmental management systems to ensure proper treatment of solid waste, manure, and waste water
Ensuring the safe storage, application, and disposal of agricultural chemicals
Maintaining habitats to conserve biodiversity
What are the 3 causes of food borne illnesses?
Biological hazards are microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, that pose an invisible
challenge to food safety
Chemical hazards are harmful substances that can cause illness if ingested with food
Physical hazards are foreign objects, such as stones, which can get into food as a result of poor food-handling practices
What are 4 details about biological pathogens?
Only 14 pathogens account for 95% illness and 98% deaths from foodborne illness in USA and cost $14 billion each year
Bacteria, e.g., Salmonella, Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium perfringens
Approximately 1 million cases of salmonellosis, 19,000 hospitalizations, and 380 deaths each year in the U.S.
Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum
What are the 4 ways synthetic and natural chemicals can contaminate food? Give examples of chemicals for each contamination route.
Synthetic (e.g., industrial chemicals) and naturally occurring (e.g., mycotoxins) can contaminate during:
Production: pesticides, dioxins, PCBs, arsenic
Processing: MSG, aspartame, dyes
Packaging: phthalates, bisphenols, including BPA
Preparation: acrylamide, furans
What are 2 details about how chemicals can enter the food supply? Give examples of health conditions associated with each chemical.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs (older pesticides [e.g., DDT], dioxin, PCBs) bioaccumulate in global food
chain; associated with reproductive, developmental, behavioral, neurological, immunological, endocrine
effects
Mycotoxins (produced by molds; e.g., aflatoxin in peanuts) contaminate grains, seeds, other foods in
production and storage; associated with cancers, immune deficiencies
What are 3 details about the global burden of food borne illness?
Globally, 1 in 10 people fall ill every year from eating contaminated food and 420,000 die as a result
Children under 5 years at particularly high risk, with 125,000 children dying from foodborne diseases every year
African and South-East Asian Regions have the highest burden of foodborne diseases
What are the 3 roles of the FDA as they relate to food safety?
Oversees the safety of approximately 80% of domestic and imported food, including seafood, dairy, produce, eggs in the shell and bottled water
Responsible for the safety of animal feed
Supports state and local efforts through a model Food Code, guidance, training and technical assistance, and evaluation services
What are the 3 roles of the USDA as they relate to food safety?
Oversees the safety of meat, poultry, and some egg products, in settings including processing plants, retail outlets and restaurants
Inspects meat processing plants, which can be carried out in conjunction with state programs and certification of imported meat products
Establishes quality and marketing grades for many foods and oversees the national organic labeling standards
What are the 3 roles of the CDC as they relate to food safety?
Monitors and investigates foodborne illness outbreaks, often in coordination with state and local health departments
Coordinates FoodNet surveillance and data analysis of 9 foodborne pathogens
Oversees DNA tracing of pathogens through PulseNet, a network of laboratories in each state
What is the role of the EPA as they relate to food safety?
Monitors drinking water and regulates toxic chemicals, such as pesticides, through the Food Quality Protection Act
What are the 4 roles of state and local health agencies as they relate to food safety?
Inspect restaurants, grocery stores, daycare facilities, hospitals, schools and some food manufacturing plants, and investigate complaints
Train food service workers
Conduct outreach to food service establishments and consumers during recalls and foodborne outbreaks
Coordinate surveillance and responses to outbreaks with the CDC
