A recent Washington Post article highlights the fact that over the last 10 years peanuts have been the cause of several outbreaks of salmonella. In 2007 Peter Pan peanut butter sickened a reported 628 people. A most recent epidemic in September 2008 in peanut butter was reported. It has caused sickness in 690 people and accounted for 9 deaths. Neither of these outbreaks or countless others in recent times have caused congress to bring forth legislation and increase inspections by the FDA. Both parties acknowledge the need for change but none has made appropriate moves. In a recent report the FDA claimed that 20 factories producing peanut products were discovered and have never been inspected after several years of use. This has heightened the public’s awareness to the problem and the need for change.
The first report of nuts contaminated by salmonella was in 1994. It is a food borne bacteria with over 2500 strains. Most adults can handle the bacteria with sickness last a few days but with the young and old death is possible. There are several bills going through congress now trying to prevent salmonella from becoming more of a problem in the future by mandatory inspections.
This problem is ongoing and can be prevented by furthering inspection. The FDA obviously is not taking it upon themselves to make these products safe so I believe it is time for congress to step in and enforce existing laws or possibly create a new one. The bill should require more mandatory inspections. The law now states that the inspectors have free reign to decide what inspections need to be made and when. This obviously is not working so far so at this point government intervention is necessary. I am usually against a lot of government intervention but at some points it becomes necessary to protect the public’s safety.
--James Schaefer
