Peanut Case Shows Holes In Safety Net

The salmonella outbreak started in the Peanut Corporation of America plant in rural southwest Georgia and spread across the country. In 2007, it took eight people's lives and sickened 19,000 people. Many things, such as the conditions at the plant, have been accused of causing the salmonella outbreak. However, the conditions of the plant was only one of many elements that led to the outbreak. Most importantly and shockingly, it was the government's negligence in food safety net that has led to the outbreak.

First of all, the Peanut Corporation of America plant in southwest Georgia was definitely one element. According to an inspection, the roasters were not calibrated to kill germs that are harmful to human health. Also, the workers were dressed in uniforms that contained contaminants. Even the roof of the plant was leaking when the facility should be kept dry in order not to let salmonella thrive.

An examination of the Blakely case reveals holes in food safety net and the indifference of the government in protecting its people from the consequences of the holes in safety net. According to interviews and government records, the state and federal inspectors who have investigated the plant did not require the plant to inform the public of the salmonella contamination in its plant. When a whistleblower inspected the ConAgra Foods factory and found out about the salmonella contamination in 2004, the Food and Drug Administration did not pursue the laboratory tests, letting them become a bigger problem and eventually killing people in the market.

The holes in safety net led to the distribution of salmonalla containing food products and eventually killed and sickened people. Three years later, in 2007, the government finally verified the inspector's claims and ConAgra improved conditions at its plant and increased laboratory testing. However, federal regulators still overlooked and did not impose higher standards on other peanut facilities, causing more and more problems and bigger holes in food safety net.

Opinion: I think the peanut case shows the lack of conscience among those people who run the plants and who inspect the plants. Death and illness of people caused by salmonella-contaminated peanut products could have been prvented if it were not for those indifferent and amoral people. The government should impose higher standards on peanut facilities. The government should also send out inspectors regularly to plants and test the procedure of making peanut products. Based on the inspection, those plants that fail to meet the standards should be closed down before making a bigger damage in people lives. Food is one of many elements in human lives that is directly related to a matter of life and death. I wish the government officials and people who are in food-related businesses are more honest and more caring in producing food.