Will Your Dinner Make You Sick?

[Michael Allen]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-08-22/FDA-rules-cantaloupes-outbreak/57223692/1 

Main Idea (Quoted): "Government is hyper-vigilant about terror attacks and problem airliners, which is good, but not so much about food"

Main Idea (My Own Words): It is taking the White House far too long to release food safety rules that could save peoples lives

Response: I wholeheartedly agree with the editor, it is time to get the FDA's rules out there and start saving lives. It is ridiculous how a little issue that can be easily solved with a set of rules has killed thousands and hospitalized even more. The fact that the rules are sitting there, and have been for eight whole months while people are being harmed by the outbreak of bad food, is even more frustrating. I understand that the White House has to deal with other issues that may be equally as dangerous, such as the war on terrorism, but completely pushing the food problem aside because one issue is "potentially" more dangerous is completely wrong, and even a bit worrisome. I can also see that the cause of this outbreak of spoiled food isn't all the government's fault, it is also the fault of the food transportation services, who do not use the correct temperatures in the cooling units on their trucks, thus the food isn't correctly refrigerated and spoils, and also the people who grow the food putting it in unsanitary conditions. But without the stricter rules made by the FDA MONTHS ago being published, this is harder to track down and put an end to, so the citizens of the USA can feel a little but safer about something as trivial as buying good food.

[apadamparker]

Response: Andrieski's assertion that the Obama administration needs to look beyond the possible political consequences of implementing A new regulation that will help to prevent deaths due to food poisoning is completely logical. The inability of the government to put into place a set of rules which could save hundreds of lives is yet more proof that the government of the United States has grown to inefficient and corrupt to operate efficiently. It is saddening that less glamorous but more dangerous problems are pushed to the side in favor of looking good in the public eye by dealing with possible terrorist attacks. While I agree with Micheal's sense of rage, caused by the governments lack of action I disagree with his statement that government isn't at fault for any spoiling that may occur during transportation. After all is it not the duty of the government to protect the American people from potential health risks such as rotten food.