The United States Of The Meatpacking Industry - 1617 Words

If the government were to get more involved in the meatpacking industry, the United States of America would have less outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The problem with E.coli, along with other foodborne illnesses start inside of the feedlots. At this point, there are at least 250 known foodborne illnesses, which are mainly infections that are caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites in the meat. In America, each state gets to decide for themselves, which diseases they have the public health department look for in their food. Instead, the government should be checking for all possible diseases in the food throughout the country. Due to the lack of inspections, Eric Schlosser states that {e}very day in the United States, roughly†¦show more content†¦The government should use its authority to restrict the amount of fast food Americans consume to try to minimize the problem with obesity. Fast food is a major source of the obesity problem that is increasing at an extreme ly rapid pace in the United States of America. Right now in the U.S., there are over 50 million adults alone that are obese. With that alarming number, the government should be stepping in to enforce laws and regulations that prohibits food industry from selling high fat foods. While the government claims it s too hard to step in because the foods people eat are a personal choice, it took the government 20 years to respond to health warnings that were issued (Health Affairs, Kersh). The fact that a medical consensus brought up health warnings, but those warnings were ignored, shows that the government has shown little interest in America s health problems. Schlosser states that {t}he United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world (240). The government loves to use the slogan about kids being our future, yet a quarter of the kids in America are overweight. Part of the reason for this is because a lot of schools are getting rid of gym class because they re faced with budget cuts. Heart disease, different cancers, and diabetes are just a few problems that are caused by obesity. According to the CDC, an average of 280,000 people in America die from beingShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On Iowa Beef Packers ( Ibp )950 Words   |  4 Pageshas fluctuated significantly throughout the last century, growth has remained consistent in the meatpacking industry; companies like IBP Inc. reported profits of $198 million on sales of $12.5 billion back in 1997 (Hettena, Seth. 1997). Today, Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) is one of four companies including ConAgra, National Beef and Excel that collectively comprise the meatpacking industry in United States. 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