Poultry and Human Health, Essay Example

In the past four decades, meat consumption behavior in the United States has changed dramatically from beef to chicken, according to data from the National Chicken Council (“Per Capita”). This shift in consumer behavior is mostly due to the increasing cognizance of various adverse health effects of eating red meat regularly, which were concluded from an in-depth scholarly literature review. However, while being able to avoid the potential dangers of consuming red meat by switching to poultry, consumers still face with underlying risks of consumer purportedly safer poultry–chicken in particular–contrary to popular belief. For example, in July 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that more than 20,000 pounds of chicken nuggets were recalled for various purposes. These nuggets, packaged under the name of “Bell & Evans Gluten Free Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets,” were exposed to “Staphylococcal enterotoxin,” a toxin that cause illnesses such as nausea or vomiting in half an hour (“Food Safety News”). Nonetheless, one of the major issues that the poultry industry is facing today is the chicken meat is pervasively contaminated with Salmonella. Thus, in order to ensure consumers of the safety of poultry food–which is now a major proportion of meat consumption–a thorough analysis of the poultry industry is needed to determine what puts customers at risk for food products being contaminated with Salmonella in order to enhance human health and reduce overall risks associated therein.

The cause of Salmonella in chicken meat is intrinsically linked to the changes in demand consumption of meat types through the past decades. In 1965, the consumption of red meat totaled approximately about 75 percent out of the total meat consumption while chicken consumption was only about 20.7 percent in the remaining proportion. Fast forward 40 years later, the consumption of chicken has doubled with the projection for the year 2015 to be 42.7 percent of the total consumption, which is about 90.1 pounds per capita; red meat including beef and pork, on the other hand, has narrowed down to approximately 50 percent (“Per Capita”). This surge in consumption of poultry can be linked to the increasing awareness of the consumers of the health risks associated with the consumption of red meat. Indeed, while red meat is still fairly popular in the kitchen, its direct association to causing cancer and other chronic diseases has persuaded consumers to severely cut down red meat intake (Daniel, 2011). Markedly, in a study executed by Harvard Medical School on red meat consumption of 120,000 people in the US over a period of nearly 30 years, the researchers ascertained that there was a definite correlation between the high red meat intake and the risk of cancers and heart diseases (Pan et al., 2012). In particular, Harvard researchers suggested that the main causes of heart diseases from red meat were the high levels of consumed saturated fat and sodium. The aforementioned evidence reveals that the trend of consuming alternative white meats in substitution for red meat will remain stable in the future, which calls for the necessity of ensuring a safe poultry supply in white meat.

Today, a major issue in the poultry industry is that the risk of chickens contaminated with Salmonella still remains quite high, which has resulted in recent national outbreaks that poses a threat for an epidemic to recur. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015, Salmonella Heidelberg is a regular cause to the illness in humans, which is greatly associated with the consumption of purportedly safe poultry, resulting in the shocking annual number of 1 million illnesses. There are a total of 450 deaths from 23,000 cases of hospitalization (“Salmonella and Chicken”). At the end of 2013, a comprehensive study called “The High Cost of Cheap Chicken” from Consumer Reports showed that 97 percent of chicken breasts in retails were contaminated with certain form of gut bacteria, in which 11 percent of the obtained samples had Salmonella (“The High Cost”) Disturbingly, a recent outbreak lasted over a year from March, 2013 to July, 2014, spanning over 29 states and hospitalized a total of 634 individuals (“Multistate Outbreak”). The main cause of this outbreak, as determined by the CDC, was linked to the consumption of Foster Farms brand chicken; the CDC stated that the outbreak strains were found to be resistant to antibiotics. People who are affected by Salmonella will display symptoms of diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 3 days after infection (“Salmonella and Chicken”). In the beginning of the outbreak, Mexico immediately issued the ban of imports of Foster Farms chicken from Central California, where a majority of Salmonella cases occurred in 2013 (Pierson), as demonstrated in the figure below. Ultimately, in the wake of this outbreak, one would expect that the sales of Salmonella from proven meat sources in the United States should be deemed illegal for its negative consequences to public health and the economy. However, the reality has been quite the opposite affect.

Figure 1 – 2013 Salmonella Outbreak

In general, Salmonella can be eliminated during the processing stage after the chicken is transferred from the farms. Particularly, a thorough overview of poultry processing presented by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association (USPEA) shows that there are measures and practices in place to ensure the safety of poultry meat for consumption by humans. As the chickens are initially delivered to the processing plant, they are stunted through two methods: electrical stunning and control atmosphere stunning, both of which render the chickens unconscious in a humane way (“Training Resources”). Without the ability to feel pain after stunning, the birds’ arteries in the neck are severed by a sharp blade and their feathers are removed through hot water by large picking machines, which contains hundreds of rubber fingers. Next, the birds’ internal organs are retrieved by automatic machines; this method is not only more efficient but also more hygienic compared to the past procedure of removing organs by workers with knives and scissors. The critical final steps inside a processing plant to reduce bacteria counts, as stated by the USPEA, include emerging the carcasses in cold water and rinsing the birds through food-grade anti-microbial sprays (“Training Resources”). Currently, there are certain organizations and methods already in place to evaluate the processing of chicken meat. For instance, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the responsibility of inspecting chicken processing facilities and also enforcing the food safety standards to the federal requirements (“Per Capita”). Specifically, the federal agents from FSIS are present at the plant during operation at all time. They routinely test samples of the chicken thoroughly and ensure that the standards set by the USDA regarding pathogens levels must be met or exceeded. Furthermore, these inspectors have to sole authority to halt production until any and all issues are resolved. In addition, the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) has been established since 1996 to eliminate contamination in the critical processes of chicken meat such as additives that destroy microbial hazards or metal detectors to avoid foreign objects in the meat (“Per Capita”). Indeed, the processing standards of the poultry industry today, which are implemented with new technology, machinery and safety measures, are shown to be more sufficient than the old manual labors. However, with the high number of Salmonella cases happen each year in the United States, it can be implied that the standards imposed by the USDA should be more progressive.

In Europe, there is in place a zero-tolerance policy for Salmonella on chicken in the European Union economic zone, which has resulted in record-low levels of Salmonella in countries such as Denmark and Sweden (Andrews). Thus, it seems logical for the legislators to consider applying a similar zero-tolerance policy for the poultry industry in the United States. In fact, more than a decade ago, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) pushed down a tough policy on the beef industry by no longer tolerate beef contaminated with faeces or ingesta; this legislation was issued after the largest E. coli outbreak in 1993 that resulted in 450 ill people and the deaths of three infants (McArthy). Therefore, the fundamental question remains as to why the USDA has not put in place a similar zero-tolerance policy for Salmonella contamination. Interestingly, the answer can be found in a landmark Appellate court case in 2001 between Supreme Beef and the USDA. According to the ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, it is legal for the beef industry to sell Salmonella-contaminated beef to the consumers; thus, the Federal Court rendered the USDA’s action of shutting down the slaughter plant that violated Salmonella standards to be illegal (“Supreme Beef v. USDA”).

During the farming stage of the industry, a measure often used by broilers owners is to use antibiotic to reduce the bacteria efficiently. However, investigations following recent outbreaks demonstrated that antibiotic resistance has increased because of the widespread and heavy usage of antibiotics, especially in the poultry industry (Weise). While Salmonella can be prevented through hygienic prepping and cooking procedures at the consumer side, the number of people affected by Salmonella poses two thoughts: the chickens should be managed to reduce the Salmonella to as close as non-existent and the consumers should be more educated on the appropriate methods to handle chicken meat. Yet, as discussed in the Journal of Food Protection in 2013, despite the fact that Salmonella could be removed through proper cooking techniques, chicken meat might still be infected with Salmonella from cross-contamination during meal preparation with raw chicken (Oscar). Nonetheless, to really fully implement the idea of “betterment” to the poultry industry, the focus should not only stop at adding strict guideline for Salmonella but also expanding safe practices across the supply chain, which means that the critical weaknesses should not be determined only in the processing step, but also in the initial sourcing and growing of the chicken to the final step in the retailers. With that in mind, the poultry industry will become not only safer in quality but also excel in ethical practices.

In conclusion, the ultimate solution is that legislators impose stricter standards on the poultry industry in the US to match with those applied in other developed countries. Thus, Salmonella diseases can be prevented without pushing the responsibility to the consumers. Indeed, the big corporations must be held more accountable for the public health of the nation. By putting in the zero-tolerance policy on Salmonella, the bacteria in chicken that causes illness to a million people in the United States each year, the USDA shows that the public health should be prioritized with appropriate policies rather than just simply informing consumers about proper cooking techniques, which regular people often forget or neglect.

Work Cited

“Andrews, James. “Salmonella on Chicken: Is Zero Tolerance Feasible?” FoodSafetyNews.com. Marler Clark, 05 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

Borchers, Andrea, Suzanne Teuber, Carl Keen, and M Gershwin. “Food Safety.” Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology, 39.2 (2010): 95-141.

Daniel, CR, AJ Cross, C Koebnick, and R Sinha. “Trends in Meat Consumption in the USA.” Public Health Nutrition, 14.4 (2011): 575-583.

“Food Safety News: Chicken Nuggets Recalled for Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Risk.” Newstex Trade & Industry Blogs, (2015): The High Cost of Cheap Chicken.” ConsumerReports.org. Consumer Reports, Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

McCarthy, Michael. “US Seeks to Rid Beef of E Coli.” The Lancet, 341.8846 (1993): 687.

“Multistate Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella Heidelberg Infections Linked to Foster Farms Brand Chicken (Final Update).” CDC.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 Jul. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

Oscar, TP. “Initial Contamination of Chicken Parts with Salmonella at Retail and Cross-Contamination of Cooked Chicken with Salmonella from Raw Chicken During Meal Preparation.” Journal of Food Protection, 76.1 (2013): 33-39.

Pan, A, Q Sun, AM Bernstein, MB Schulze, JE Manson, MJ Stampfer, WC Willett, and FB Hu. Red Meat Consumption and Mortality Results from 2 Prospective Cohort Studies.” Archives of Internal Medicine, 172.7 (2012): 555-563.

“Per Capita Consumption of Poultry and Livestock, 1965 to Estimated 2016, in Pounds.” Nationalchickencouncil.org. The National Chicken Council, 10 July 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.

Pierson, David. “Mexico blocks Foster Farms chicken imports amid salmonella fears.” LATimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Oct, 2015.

“Salmonella and Chicken: What You Should Know and What You Can Do.” CDC.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.

“Supreme Beef v. USDA. – Evaluating the Inspection System” PBS.org. WGBH Educational Foundation, 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

“Training Resources.” USPoultry.org. U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Weise, Elizabeth. “New Salmonella Outbreak in Chicken Resists Antibiotics.” USA Today. Gannett, 08 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2015