Ethical Issues in Food - Essay Example

The content of E. coli in the cow’s guts increases when they feed on the corns. To regulate the effect of increased E. coli levels, the meatpackers often tend to cleanse the meat by treating it with ammonia so that it becomes suitable for human consumption.

Food-borne illnesses resulting from the consumption of contaminated food are increasingly putting millions of Americans in hospitals every year. The number of Americans that are admitted into hospitals every year is 325,000 approximately and those who die because of the diseases caused by contaminated food consumption every year are about 5000 (The Center for Ecoliteracy 39). The toddler Kevin in Food, Inc. who is only two years old becomes sick because of Escherichia E. coli. Escherichia E. coli is a bacterial group that is found in the intestines of many birds, animals, and also humans. Usually, many E. coli benefit us by decomposing the food that we in-take and facilitating its digestion, though serious infections may be caused by some strains that may, in turn, cause bloody diarrhea, cramps in the stomach, failure of kidney, and sometimes, it may result into the death of the affected person.

People may acquire the bacteria of E. coli when they eat or drink things that are contaminated with the manure of animals in general and that of cattle in particular. Dairy products including cheese and unpasteurized milk, sausages, minced meat, sprouts of carrots or radishes, spinach and lettuce leaves, as well as potable water, may contain the deadliest strain i.e., E. coli O157:H7 (The Center for Ecoliteracy 40).

            Various federal agencies in the US that include but are not limited to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assume the responsibility to ensure that the food that becomes available in the market is safe and has been passed through careful examination and inspection (The Center for Ecoliteracy 40). However, these agencies often divide the responsibilities among one another for checking the ingredients of even the same items. In the US, cheese for the frozen pizzas is checked by FDA whereas pepperoni which is used in the pizza is checked by USDA. Several important issues get ignored in this system because of the difference between individual agencies. For instance, a major part of the funds is used for drug regulation instead of inspection of the food in FDA. The responsibility of food checking should be prudently assigned to help improve the efficiency of the system.