Ruble, William Anthony Borerro English 1102 2/21/13 I am concerned with the levels of recalls causing foods and

other products to be taken off the shelves. Why are the products put out in the first place? It is a hazard to peoples health and is unacceptable simply because the FDA does not regulate all products consumers use. If you are going to leave it up to other organizations and companies to ensure the safety of their products there needs to at least be more testing before the products should be put on the market. Why are some products regulated by the FDA and others not? Food additives are another huge issue with regulation and consumer safety. Things such as dyes, food colorings, and artificial flavorings are all additives. I will also explore what other countries do in terms of regulation of consumer goods involving health and wellness. The meat industry has made a big change recently in terms of its regulation by the FDA. The FDA does not regulate other areas such as alcohol. The only thing the FDA oversees is the labeling of the products. Certain things dont add up, as to why the FDA is allowed to regulate the labeling of products, but the actual product within certain things. The meaning of regulation by the FDA standards is that certain products and consumer goods are monitored and checked for safety, quality, and even health guidelines. Each type of products has its own set of criteria for which is must abide by to be regulated by the FDA, and if it does not meet the criteria after testing it will

not be released to the public. According to a recent article on the FDA, the FDA has been trying to set new guidelines and criteria for testing food and meat before it is put on the market to stop all the recalls on food. If this is true then why are there still so any recalls on foods when the FDA is supposedly testing products before they are put on the market? It seems ridiculous that if the FDA is regulating these products and yet there are still constantly recalls. Local places such as Trader Joes in the past few months have had E. coli recalls and issues with products (Charles, Dan). Something as recent as this has happened since the new regulations and testing of foods. Regulation issues are ever present in all situations regarding the FDA, recently there has been problems with regulation of additives in foods. The FDA has always regulated additives in food, but recently they have been re-thinking their take on the issue and have been seriously considering changing their regulations. In 2011 there was a meeting discussing the affects that additives have on children such as a possibility if hyperactivity in children. They not only had to change the their regulations, but also the labeling was being reconsidered to help educate the consumer more about what exactly they are buying. According to (Gardner, Amanda) The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees, but it usually does. Apparently the issues with additives such as food dye have been theorized since the 1970s but the FDA has yet to change their regulations despite concerns from the public until the first public upbringing of the issue in 2008. It seems like an unnecessary amount of time that between 2008 and 2011 nothing happened to change the FDAs regulations on dyes and additives. The European union has put labeling of six different additives on products, but the

British equivalent to our FDA has asked companies to outright take the additives out completely. Despite all of the controversy of the issues of additives and the affects it has on the consumer our FDA is still reluctant to take them out completely because it would be extremely difficult with the widespread use of them that we have. Processed foods are not the only issue, other products such as the meat industry have regulation issues also. According to an article in 2011 the meat industry is also not regulating antibiotic use on factory farms anymore. The reason being that it was already obvious that routine use of these drugs would generate antibiotic-resistant pathogens that endanger humans (Tom Philpott). Ever since this lack of regulation the meat industry as put animals in poor living conditions and tight living quarters. Even in these tight living conditions the animals are given daily supplements of antibiotics. The FDA recently revealed that factory animal farms now burn through fully 80 percent of all antibiotics consumed in the United States (Tom Philpott). The meat industry continues to pump their livestock with antibiotic drugs to prevent the growth of bacteria even though they know it could potentially cause humans to be antibiotic resistant. A recent study has shown that as a result of humans becoming resistant to antibiotics it can cause tuberculosis whooping cough and even gonorrhea (How The Meat). According to a recent article in 2013 after the issue became a public issue this was stated. Now that this study has been made public, however, policymakers are pointing to it as evidence that the FDA needs more regulatory oversight in this area of the meat industry(How The Meat). The public even spoke their voice and said that 60 percent of people would pay 5 cents extra

per pound of meat simply in return for not raising the livestock with antibiotics. If people are having this many issues with our FDA and regulation despite public concern, this creates questions about how other countries operate and regulate things and whether or not their policies work better. In Canada their version of the FDA is called the HPFB, which is also known as the health products and food branch. Looking at how other countries operate with the same issues and problems we have can be extremely beneficial. The HPFB is in charge of ensuring the health and safety of products and consumer goods just like our FDA. Not only is the HPFB in charge of food safety, but it also promotes health and wellness. Within the HPFB is a branch of operation called the Food Directorate which interacts with all levels of the government, not just the higher level parts. The HPFB is in charge of research, creating viable criteria for the marketing of goods, and even proving assistance to people with health choices (Common Menu). It seems that other countries such as Canada are more strict about he regulation and guidelines of products and even just the general health choices people make in their daily lives. Canadas guidelines for what is a marketable food product is much different than ours and it seems that they undergo more testing and questioning than our products. Which brings to question, does this lower the total number of recalls on foods and other products compared to ours? The FDA needs to regulate more products and not simply oversee them. Because of the fact that the FDA does this many health affects, recalls, and even the meat we consume on a regular basis are affected. While ensuring that some things

are labeled on products before they are marketed is good, it does not changed what is actually in the products harming people. The FDA needs to regulate more things.

"Common Menu Bar Links." Safe and Nutritious Food [Health Canada, 2006]. N.p., 17 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. "Tom Philpott." Mother Jones. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013

Gardner, Amanda, and Copyright Health Magazine 2011. "FDA Weighs Food Dye, Hyperactivity Link." CNN. Cable News Network, 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 2013.
"How The Meat Industry Is Fueling The Rise Of Drug-Resistant Diseases." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2013.