Any good solution to my topic "Detect contaminated food"?!
Well I am supposed to think of a solution for all this and the only thing I could think of was make machine that can test the foods for all that bad stuff; unless they already made that! then i'm out of ideas.
Well I would like to know if anybody had any other good ideal solutions to this topic besides the ideas that has already been used. Thanks,
Answers: I'm doing a problem solution essay and the topic i've chosen is ways to "Detect Contaminated food". Everyone should know about the meat containing E. Coli or other different types of food being contaminated.
Well I am supposed to think of a solution for all this and the only thing I could think of was make machine that can test the foods for all that bad stuff; unless they already made that! then i'm out of ideas.
Well I would like to know if anybody had any other good ideal solutions to this topic besides the ideas that has already been used. Thanks,
The first defense is learning how to detect bad food at home. After all, that's where you eat the food. When we were kids, my mom canned home grown foods and we processed our own meat. Therefore, cleanliness was extremely important. As a result, we learned how to check the foods we eat.
Meat, check for smell first. Learn what the smell of fresh meat smells like. Then always smell the meat. If it has a foul odor, then the meat is no good. Also, texture. Learn what a healthy piece of meat feels like and looks like. Color, today tells you next to nothing because the meat is treated with carbon monoxide. That makes it red even if it is not. Always check for brown spots on the meat which indicates that it's either been exposed to heat (the temperature was not cold continuously) which allows bacteria to build on the meat. If the meat feels slimy like the melted bar soap in a soap dish, then the meat is probably no good. Do not eat it. Always cook meat to 160 degrees. If meat is cooked through, lots of germs and potential disease carriers are eliminated. People who eat rare done meat (meat that has red and blood in it) are always exposing themselves to whatever was in the blood of that cow or whatever problems the cow may have had. Additionally, since BGH and other hormones and anti-biotics are given to cows and chickens and other farm animals, people who have allergies to certain drugs are beginning to have problems. Think about it. Common sense would tell you that if pregnant women are not supposed to drink because the baby might end up with fetal alcohol syndrome and if women aren't to do drugs because the babies will be born with drugs in their systems, then how can we possibly escape having the drugs given to the animals affect our bodies after we eat them? Steroids and growth hormones have caused young girls (age 7) develop breasts and have periods. So, what makes anyone think that the growth hormones given to cows (and passed through the milk) won't show up in the systems of athletes?
The recent beef recall has even more far-reaching effects because of the fact that the beef would be placed in processed foods like (and references to brands are strictly for descriptive purposes -- I don't have any knowledge that these brands are affected) hot pockets, frozen dinners, canned spaghettic sauces, etc. Therefore, we need to have better tracking and better inspections of not only the stock yards and the farms to ensure they are not feeding the animals contaminated food, but we need to have more stringent testing requirements and more stringent health department testing and checking of the food.
Canned goods can be visually inspected for tell-tale resealing evidence. Look at the tops and bottoms of cans for little dots (indentations) near the center. If you see these, it generally means that the can was "resealed". If the cans bulge or if certain of the cans pop (like a giant release of pressure) when you break the seal with the can opener, depending upon the food, it could signal a build up of bad gas in the can and the food could be contaminated. Learn the smells of good food and check food for smell.
There is absolutely no fool proof method for checking food. I think FDA labs should go to stores and randomly pull various foods from the shelves and then test them for contaminants or spoilage. Also, I believe we should collect cans that people have had for years and check the efficacy of that food. Test it against the fresh food and see if it is better or worse that newer canned foods.
Also, if you give people the web sites to contact for any questionable food, they can call and get answers about it. Recently when I was cleaning out my food pantry, I called about canned foods and expiration dates and codes so I could determine whether my food was good or bad. I put some of the "expired food" aside because I would like to get a grant to study this food and the efficacy of it. Is it safe? Are the shelf lives listed on the products valid? Should they be shortened or extended?
You would be very surprised at how little the ordinary citizen knows about common sense detection of contaminated foods. Education of students, the public and videos showing foods and what to look for would do wonders for ensuring that 1 of every 4 people having some kind of food borne illness doesn't become one of every 2. According to the news either late last night or early this morning, 1 of every 4 people suffer from a food borne illness. So, if that's the case, then education would do more than lots of machinery.
Here's an example of probable food borne illness. Hearburn and acid indigestion. Tainted food, old flour, contaminated wheat products, food additives, etc. all have been known to cause heartburn which is the first sign of "bad food". Heartburn is "acid indigestion" and if you study the decomposition of foods and the interactions of certain kinds of food additives, you will see that the body's inability to digest or process those additives will cause heartburn. Of course, hearburn is required for all these companies like Prilosec and "the purple pill" to be able to make money. Antacids can cause alkalyd ulcers. Also stomach ulcers are often caused by bacteria which in turn could be attributed to contaminated food. Therefore, if we start testing this stuff and testing the content of food to ensure that what's listed on the label is all that's in the food, we might eliminate lots of contaminated foods.
Hope this helps.
They already do that, sort of, they test chemically for the bacteria. The only other solution is to have more USDA testing done, it is already done in all meat facilities but if increased manpower, then you could test more. E.Coli can also be introduced after meat is processed. The only real way to protect yourself is to avoid temperature abuse and cook meats properly.