Fast Food NationPathogens, E. coli, Salmonella, oh my!

By: Aubrianna Johnson and Jessica Willis

Introduction

Lee Hardrig experiences extreme illness after consuming ground beef patties

“Hudson beef patties” were contaminated with E. coli 157:H7› Hudson Foods plant in Columbus, Nebraska

had 35 million pounds of beef recalled when 25 million pounds were already eaten

An Ideal System for New Pathogens

25% of people suffer from food poisoning each year (CDC)

This section compares E. coli to AIDS — people appear healthy, but there is an outbreak in 1988 that soon evolves into an epidemic.

The National Dish

In the 1920s, hamburger was rarely sold and was considered food for the poor

White Castle food chain cooked meat in front of customers and soon was very successful

Ray Kroc’s McDonalds chain in 1950s seemed convenient for children (simple, cheap, no mess)

Lauren Beth Rudolph ate a Jack in the Box and suffered from three heart attacks and died December 28, 1992, at age 6

A Bug that Kills Children

E. coli attacks the lining of the intestine Can lead to HUS (Hemolytic Uremic

Syndrome)› 5% of children who get it have died and

those who survive are left disabled in some way

E. coli can live in fresh water and sea water, on a kitchen counter for days, in moist places for weeks and can survive a freezer and heat up to 160 degrees F

E. coli is also caused by contaminated bean sprouts, cantaloupe, salami and raw milk

A Bug that Kills Children cont…

E. coli may be spread person to person Cows were fed dirty water and dirty food or

dead livestock (such as dead sheep or cattle) as well as dead cats and dogs in 1997› Practices banned by FDA because it caused Mad Cow

Disease However, FDA approves cattle to be fed dead

pork and poultry Hide removed by hand—spillage of dirt/manure

will contaminate meat One single animal can contaminate 32,000

pounds of ground beef

All We Care to Pay

“The Jungle” by Upton Sinelain exposed (in 1906) the practices used in the meat packing industries that threatened the health of consumers› This led to Congress passing the Meat

Inspection Act of 1906 Under Reagon and Bush

Administrations, the USDA was installed (U.S. Department of Agriculture )

All We Care to Pay cont…

The USDA launched the SIS-C (Streamlined Inspection System for Cattle) to reduce the presence of federal inspectors in slaughterhouses

Clinton Administration announced E. coli was considered an illegal adulterant and had random microbial testing take place to remove it from the nation’s food supply

A Matter of Will Jack in the Box uncooked hamburger meat

fiasco (a large outbreak of food poisoning) David M. Theno (food scientist) was appalled

and soon proposed HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) › Manager attend a food safety course, every

refrigerated delivery truck have a record-keeping thermometer, every kitchen grill be calibrated to ensure an adequate cooking temperature and every grill person use tongs instead of bare hands

› Microbial testing (searching for bacteria like E. Coli)

› Making improvements to Jack in the Box

A Lack of Recall Clinton’s Administration makes efforts to implement a

tough, science-based food inspection Meatpacking and fast food industries are major financial

supporters for Republicans. This sets back the Democratic party’s food inspection reforms when Republicans had majority in Congress.

The Hudson Foods outbreak in 1997 revealed the flaws with USDA recall policy. The USDA could not order a recall, they could only heavily suggest it to a company. Rarely did the USDA take the extreme measure to shut down the factory.

Hamburger patties were discovered with E. coli and Hudson Foods first made no effort to recall the spoiled meat until a few months later, but once it was a voluntary recall, USDA didn’t have to inform the public—which they didn’t. The USDA got bad press as soon as the public found out about the contaminated meat

A Lack of Recall cont…

USDA now informs public on Class I recalls (which is a serious or potentially lethal threat) but does not release where the contaminated meat is located.

After the Jack in the Box incident, the Clinton Administration backed legislation to provide the USDA with the authority to demand meat recall and impose civic fines on meatpackers, but the legislations failed to pass Congress in 1996, ‘97, ’98 and ‘99.

Our Friend the Atom In 1996, Clinton announced that USDA

would finally adopt a science-based meat inspection system

The Clinton Administration planned on initiating the HACCP plan and submit meat to USDA for microbial testing

The USDA plan was slightly different› Employees keep records which made the

information not apart of public records Lots of companies falsify records

› Meat packing plants would not be required to test for E. coli

Our Friend the Atom cont… USDA inspectors are now demoralized,

understaffed and pressured not to slow meat production

USDA and meatpacking industries both advocate an exotic technological solution to attack foodbourne particles by using irradiation (a form of bacteria birth control)› American Medical Association and the World Health

Organization declared irradiated meat safe to eat› However, consumers reluctant to eat meat that has

been exposed to radiation Companies want labeling meat “irradiation” to be

voluntary or change it to “cold pasteurization”

What Kids Eat 1980s and 90s, USDA chose meat

suppliers for its National School Lunch Program based on lowest price, without imposing additional food safety requirements.› Cheapest beef most likely to be contaminated

with pathogens and still contain pieces of spinal cord, bone and gristle left behind and had many cases where a student became sick from E. coli or Salmonella

Every year, US food with Salmonella cause 1.4 million illnesses and 500 deaths

What Kids Eat

Supreme Beef was the main suppler of meat for the schools

In 1999, the USDA finally took action and shut down Supreme Beef

Supreme Beef retailiated with by suing USDA, but futher investigation revealed high quantities of Salmonella

USDA then set requirements for the school beef that were similar to the requirements for the fast food chains

Your Kitchen Sink

People would be better off eating a carrot stick that fell in the average American’s toilet than one that fell in the average American’s sink

No matter how well executed the HACCP plan is, or how many bursts of gamma rays, the safety of the food at fast food chains often depends on low-paid, unskilled workforce of teenagers and recent immigrants.