FDA Not Punishing Serious Food Violations, Report Finds
How effectively is your food being regulated? A new report says that a lot of violations are slipping through the cracks.
Every year 3,000 Americans die of food-borne illness, and 128,000 are hospitalized. To combat this, the FDA is tasked with protecting the nation's food supply by ensuring that food producers adhere to strict safety regulations.
But a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has revealed severe weaknesses in the FDA's program, which relies on voluntary compliance. The report found that the FDA "consistently failed to conduct timely followup inspections to ensure that facilities corrected significant inspection violations," and conducted no followup at all for at least 17% of cases. The report also found that 22% of cases of serious violations saw no agency action at all.
This means that food that is made in unsafe or unsanitary conditions is not stopped before before it reaches consumers — despite FDA knowledge. You can read the rest of the report here.
What do you think? Do you take any special steps to keep your food safe? Tell us in the comments!
If you liked this article, you should check out this expert tip for defrosting meat safely.
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These quick and easy chicken quesadillas are the perfect, last-minute family dinner!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup of chives, chopped
- 1 tsp. of Mexican spice mix
- 4 Tortillas
- Cheddar
- Salt, to taste
METHOD:
- Put shredded chicken breast, tomato sauce, chives, and mexican spice mix in a bowl and mix together.
- Lay out the tortillas. Place a slice of cheddar in the center, and cover with the chicken mix.
- Fold up tortillas, and heat in a frying pan until golden.
- Enjoy!
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