Our Food-Safety System Is A Patchwork With Big Holes, Critics Say

Altogether, 15 federal agencies play a role in food safety, from the EPA to the Centers for Disease Control. Food processors are subject to a dizzying array of regulations, spending time and money to prove their products are safe.

Each year, 1 in 6 Americans comes down with listeria, E. coli, salmonella or some other foodborne illness. According to the CDC, 3,000 people die annually. For years, critics have said a streamlined system would be safer. On one hand, President Obama has called for the creation of a single food-safety agency in his 2016 budget, yet on the other hand, our government is going in the direction of letting the poultry companies inspect their own poultry!

That’s a big problem, because there are challenges ahead that cut across all agencies. For instance, 16 percent of the food Americans eat is imported, and that number is rising. Steve Taylor, a food scientist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says regulators are already behind in inspecting foreign food facilities.

Sugar Industry Subverted Public Health Policy for Decades

Who writes the policies for public health, and how? This is an important question, and if your initial answer is that policy is created by medical experts, based on the most scientifically compelling evidence available, you’d actually be wrong.

As recent media reports have revealed, dental policy, for example, is heavily influenced by the sugar industry. As I always say, follow the money!

As a result of this collusion, dental policy not only downplays the impact that sugar and processed junk food has on dental health, it also ignores the voluminous evidence demonstrating the toxic nature of fluoride.

The Hidden Dangers of Drinking Water

One investigation in the New York Times, found that American tap water contributes to rashes and skin burns, erodes tooth enamel, and often contains arsenic, lead, barium, and other toxic chemicals.

An Associated Press investigation found numerous contaminants in every state’s school water. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed 1 out of every 5 schools investigated violated the Safe Drinking Water Act during the past decade. I know in my children’s school, the pipes were so old, that they closed down the water fountains, and children had to go to the nurses office to get a drink of water!

The EPA and Congress regulate over 100 pollutants and 91 chemicals through the Safe Drinking Water Act. Even so, EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, admits that American water fails to meet public health goals, and water pollution law enforcement is unacceptably low.