Major Issues in the United States Food Supply Essay

Major Issues in the United States Food Supply - Essay ExampleDespite these measures, outbreaks do occur, requiring swift intervention by the regulating agencies to control the damage and take action against those responsible. This includes product recalls, issuing health warnings, and taking juristic action against the persons guilty of negligence or intentional breach of safe. The hobby paragraphs highlight some of the master(prenominal) figures in ensuring food safety in the United States. The United States food supply has seen a physique of high-profile outbreaks in the recent past. Such outbreaks result in disease, hospitalization and even deaths in some utmost(prenominal) parts. Ever since the threat of terrorism against American citizens, the government has become increasingly sensitive to issues of food safety and outbreaks, and such incidents argon responded to swiftly. Certain examples can serve to illustrate the nature of food supply issues in the United States. In April 2012, there was an outbreak of Escherichia coli in 11 states. Around 29 people were infected and seven were hospitalized as a result of consuming infected clover sprouts (Deloitte, 3). At times, such outbreaks excessively lead to large-scale product recalls announced by government authorities. In November of 2012, peanut butter manufacture in a Minnesota factory was infected by a Salmonella strain. As a result, 42 people were infected and the FDA recalled the product from 20 states crossways the United States. The Regulation of Imported Food Products An all-important(a) issue in the food supply safety of the United States is the portion of national as salubrious as international produce. The United States is a big importer of food products including meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and so on. While there are food safety standards in force in the United States, other countries may be following standards and regulations that are less stringent. Therefore, the challenge for t he United States is to strike a balance between meeting the use up for food products in the country while ensuring food safety in the supply chain. A case in point is the meat recall of 2012 where 2.5 million pounds of beef imported from Alberta in Canada had been infected by E. coli. Canada is still the largest food exporter to the United States, making up 19.8% of its total food imports in 2012 (Deloitte, 4). The European Union, China, Mexico and brazil are other large food importers to the country. Smuggling of food into the United States is another major issue in food safety. Smuggled food enters undetected into the food supply, which prevents it from being inspected for pathogens and other contamination by the relevant agencies. Smuggled food is thus likely to be of a poorer quality and a bully threat to the health of people in low income groups. An anti-smuggling strategy has been developed by the FDA and other agencies. The role of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) i s essential in the prevention of food being smuggled across the border (FDA, 2013). Food is usually smuggled across the Mexico border because it allows the smugglers to avoid paying import taxes and dip inspection. However, this could result in undetected pathogens making their way into the United States food supply and posing a threat to the health and well-being of consumers.