Everyone has experienced a case of food poisoning before. But no one ever blames the government agencies or food production companies for it. No, they were just unlucky and had something that wasn’t clean. But what if you made dinner one night, and all your guests got sick. Are you to blame for opening a package of ready to eat organic spinach for your salad, and organic steak that you bought from Wegmans? In the heat of the moment, you are to blame. But trace it back to where the food came from, and ask yourself the question again. The answer should be no, you are not to be blamed. The government agencies in charge of the food industries are the ones to blame.

This topic has been resurfaced in recent news in cases like Chipotle, where they claim to have ethically raised poultry and non-GMO foods. As of January 27, 2016 there was a total case of 55 people who were infected with the outbreak strain of E.Coli O26 in Chipotle restaurants. As a popular fast food chain, they took actions immediately to expand the testing of fresh produce, raw meat and dairy items prior to restocking the restaurants. Luckily they are taking the next step in making their food safer for the consumer. Other cases, aren’t so generous, and will fight to keep doing what their doing, and that is keeping the consumer clueless as to where the food they put in their mouth has been and has gone through.

In films like Food Inc, they expose different cases in which food has been a big issue. One of the big cases that were talking about was Kevin’s story. Kevin was a little boy, who was full of life, and on a family vacation decided to chow down on a burger. After returning home from his vacation, Kevin’s mother reported seeing blood in Kevin’s stool and also noticed that he has a slight fever. They went to the doctor but were sent home. The next day, Kevin’s condition was significantly worse than it had ever been, and went to the hospital again for dehydration and bloody stools. His kidneys started failing, and they were given the diagnosis that he had contracted E.coli O157:H7. He passed away. Kevin’s sister and father were also tested positive for E.coli O157:H7. They brought this case to court, but they did not have enough evidence. Later on, the same company had a random test, and were positive for E.coli O157:H7, and the PFGE pattern (or DNA) for Kevin’s E. coli matched the PFGE pattern of the recalled meat. However this was still not enough evidence to get justice for Kevin. What happened to Kevin was very tragic, and the scary thing is it can honestly happen to anyone.

Kevin had it very bad, but his sister and father who also ate the contaminated meat just had one uncomfortable bowel movement. This is very common. Most frequent cases of these illnesses are viruses and species of bacteria, but most episodes are never reported to health authorities. The most authoritative estimate of the yearly number of cases of food borne disease in the United States is 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths. Today, food production has created more promising conditions for bacteria and viruses to breed. Infected animals excrete pathogens in their feces, and other animals and plants come across the infected feces and then we proceed to eat it. Some pathogens survive cooking, stomach acid and other bodily functions and these pathogens can multiply and do much worse things to your body. On top of these pathogens, plants are genetically modified and animals are fed ridiculous foods, both are done in efforts of making the food bigger and more appealing to the consumer.

When you see a fat cow, you immediately think that he is fed proper meals, and grown to be big and fat and healthy. You would also think that the cows are hanging out on nice big grass fields and eating grass like they portray in some commercials. However that is certainly not the case. Cows are fed things as ludicrous as chicken feathers, because they apparently contain a high source of protein. On top of that all animals, including cows, chicken, pigs and even fish are fed corn. Corn comes in abundance and fattens up animals quick. As casual as that sounds that’s backtrack for a minute. Cows are fed corn, when they are supposed to be eating grass. Cows are unable to digest corn. When they eat corn, it can upset their digestive system. Cattle create a lot of gas, which they usually release, but when their diet is high in starch and low in roughage, a layer of foamy slime forms in their great food-processing tank. In a web article called “ What happens in the stomach of a corn-fed cows” it states that a corn diet can also generate acidosis. Unlike our highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of cattle stomachs is neutral. Corn makes then unnaturally acidic. Acidotic animals go off their feed, pant and drool, paw at their bellies and eat dirt. The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver disease and a general weakening of the immune system. A cow that has a poor immune system due to eating corn, which is suppose to make them fat and appealing, is being served to us. The extent to which the affects the cow has that can be passed onto humans through consumption are still unsure of, but it surely does not sound okay.

Despite obvious concerns of the food industry and the impacts it has on our health, food industries are doing little to nothing about it. We are left with a constant mystery of where our food has been.