One of the key claims that the Food, Inc. documentary stresses is how mass-produced foods can often lead to serious health problems. For example, numerous cases of food poisoning are reported daily, most of them from mass-produced meats. This problem is also spreading towards foods like spinach and other grains and vegetables. Although recalls are made each time an illness is reported, due to the millions of pounds of food being produced and shipped out each day, with the high possibility that at least one animal or ingredient was carrying a harmful pathogen or bacteria, it is impossible to completely solve the problem. With mass food production companies constantly getting larger and larger and producing more and more, subsequently they are spreading bad pathogens increasingly far and wide. This claim is true because of the many food recalls, and the many cases of food-related illnesses that are reported.
There was an article from the Huffington Post in June of 2013 about the recall of over 20,000 pounds of ground beef being recalled nationally in that month due to the possibility of an e-coli contamination. There was another article from some time ago in the New York Times about California issuing the largest beef recall in U.S. history, nearly 140 million pounds, from schools. 140 million pounds of possibly contaminated meat in one state, and in schools at that, where the children would be the majority of victims. The fact that so much contaminated meat could be in schools is truly scary. The mass-production methods of large food producing businesses often do not thoroughly inspect their animals before killing them and shipping the meat out to consumers. It would simply cost them too much time and money to conduct a rigorous examination of each animal to make sure it is free of any harmful pathogens, bacteria, or diseases. In addition, the animal does not have to be sick itself to be harmful. If the animal is weak, undernourished, or maltreated, it's meat can often have harmful effects on anyone who eats it. In my house, if we store meat in a plastic bag for any period of time, once we use the meat we immediately throw the bag away. For other foods, like fruit, vegetables, sandwiches, etc... we can wash and reuse the plastic bag (saves money). However, if it was used to store raw meat, we immediately throw it out because it cannot be used to store anything else. If the meat was tainted, we want to be sure that it will not taint any other food. This is how dangerous contaminated meat can be. The most common diseases carried by meat are salmonella and e-coli, and children are often warned against touching any meat that looks unusual or has been left un-refrigerated for a period of time. These dangers stem from the fact that the great majority of meat produced is mass-produced (i.e. with inferior conditions for animals and inadequate examinations), and now the danger is spreading to mass-produced grains and vegetables to (although the risks are not as prominent).
Evidence of how dangerous mass-produced foods can be can be seen in how many food-related illnesses are reported. in 2010, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) reported nearly 30,000 food-borne illness reports, of which e-coli and salmonella represented the bulk of causes. 30,000 illnesses in a year is roughly 82 reports a day across the nation. Each day about 82 people report an illness caused by some type of contaminated food. of these 82 people per day, it is highly likely that most (if not all) of them ate fast food or ate food produced by a major farming corporation. These illness might be avoided if the major corporate farming businesses put more revenue into better food, housing conditions, and treatment of their animals, and into examining the animals for potential harmful pathogens. However, these big businesses' main concern is growing bigger, producing more, and gaining more profit. The consequence is that as they produce more likely-contaminated food, and that food is sent all over America and even into foreign nations, they are further spreading diseases like e-coli and salmonella. This results in food recalls, which costs the companies time, money, and prestige. Ultimately, by not investing enough in healthier animals, the mass production companies are not only harming themselves, but are also harming the general population of consumers.
Food, Inc. is correct in its analysis that mass produced foods are often the cause of serious consumer health problems. Millions of pounds of food (mostly meat, and of meat it is mostly beef) are recalled every month, and thousands of food-related illnesses are reported each year. Many of these recalls and illnesses could be avoided if the producers would spend more time and money in ensuring the health of their animals. By not doing so, the companies like Tyson and Cargill are harming both themselves and their customers.
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