Politicians play Russian Roulette with Consumers and Food Safety Workers.

Generally I feel the FDA and USDA are over authoritative bureaucratic agencies put in place to safeguard us from improper growing, handling, slaughtering, processing and packaging our food. But in lieu of recent events it seems they will be doing some downsizing to these organizations and the tasks they perform.

Few departments of government remained unscathed as hard won social, environmental and progressive economic improvement strategies underwent deep to devastating cuts. One potentially disastrous $10 million budget reduction impacts the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Modernization Act which was signed into law January 4, 2011. How soon we forget.

With our consumer demands increasing on a daily basis and with new laws regulating the growth and production of food at home (which I am personally against), this seems like a bad time to make cuts. The economy is not back to where we can all go out and eat lobster and filet mignon every night, we depend on safe, cheap foods for the bulk of our diets.

The budget cuts will likely mean that even fewer food safety inspectors will be available to conduct the “more frequent inspections” and inspections “based on risk” as called for in the FDA legislation. In addition, foods and facilities that pose a greater risk to food safety were to have received the most attention. These facilities and foods referred to include the meat products produced in this nation’s meatpacking and poultry processing factories – factories in which both worker and consumer food safety are constantly at risk.

Also with the ever looming threats of bio-terrorism in the horizon does this put us all at greater risk? Or has this task been handed over to the DHS now?
Unemployment and the ever expansion of cheap labor infused into our economy is making this an issue that I will unfortunately remember every time I go grocery shopping now.

Sadly, unenforced USDA, FDA and OSHA legislation continues to undermine both product and worker safety in the food industry which impacts the quality of life for both consumers and workers. Food workers, primarily immigrants and refugees, endure shameless treatment and long hours in every sector of the U.S. food industry – in plants, on factory farms and in the fields – for low wages, often victimized by injury, verbal abuse, and wage theft.

This seems to be an invitation for disaster!
Source:
US Food Safety