By now, you have probably heard about the egg-recall across the country. It’s not anything new—recalling mass produced grocery products. In fact after the e-coli/spinach fiasco a few years back, is anyone really that surprised to hear the words are now replaced with salmonella and eggs? We hear about the dangers of salmonella in un-cooked meat, so it makes sense for eggs, a product from the same animal to have the same concern.
And why has this happened this time? Some of the blame goes straight to the U.S. Government, arguing USDA and FDA should maintain better control over food regulation. In fact, the idea that the FDA has complete control is not necessarily the case. The processes are often monitored only at certain stages, and not throughout, therefore some conditions and critical consequences can easily be over-looked. So, the solution, of course, is to tighten regulations and increase the presence of the supervision.
Another reason is the corporate control, the mere fact that so many of these brands are controlled by the same company. Think back to the days of Trust-Bustin’ Teddy Roosevelt, we can easily think that we have over-come the monopolization of the large corporations. However, in some ways we are back where we started, with lessons learned—now corporations know to better conceal their seemingly never-ending reaches. Different brand names create an illusion of variety and competition, but often they are all supplied by the same mega-farms. Therefore when an outbreak occurs, it is harder to locate the potentially bad items and the recall becomes a much bigger problem.
So now what? Well, this is where the green, sustainable, local, farmers’ market movements of today can come into play. By shortening the chain, creating more transparency, understanding the food and making education decisions, we can take back some the control in our hands as consumers. When an event like this recall occurs, we are reminded of the lack of understanding and the complete separation we have from our food and the producers. Taking that back—when we are able to—is an important step to take to consider both our consumer rights and health.
Further Information: See the recalled egg companies on The Washington Post: Egg Recall. Learn more about the science behind the outbreak, check out CNN’s article: What? Chicken butt. Why there's Salmonella in your eggs.
Sources:
Eckholm, Erik. “Egg Industry Faces New Scrutiny After Outbreak.” The New York Times. 23 August 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/us/24eggs.html?_r=1&ref=us
Layton, Lyndsey. “As egg producers consolidate, problems of just one company can be far-reaching.” The Washington Post. 24 August 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/23/AR2010082305118.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010082305302
Waldrop, Chris. “Expert: Egg recall shows FDA needs more power.” Interview: Director of the Food Policy Institute, Consumer Federation of America. The Associated Press. 23 August 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/08/23/VI2010082304261.html?sid=ST2010082305302
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