Food Manufacturing Plants Becoming Dangerously Contaminated?

Just when you thought it was safe to go out and eat or eat processed foods at home, comes the news that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not done any inspections at a large number of food-manufacturing plants for “years.” This lack of action increases the risk of food borne illnesses.

Lately we’ve been overwhelmed with reports of food borne illnesses ranging from tainted lettuce to cheese that may have salmonella. It appears that government investigators have discovered that many of the food product plants have not been inspected for over five years; obviouly lax oversight and the usual "profits before people" mentality that prevails in corporate America is putting the public at enormous risk. People should be wondering about the safety of the food they eat daily and whether or not it’s safe to rely on it any longer.

You may recall the peanut scandal, the contaminated peppers and the spinach and lettuce that made people deathly ill. Those illnesses caused the US to expend roughly $152 billion in additional health care costs to deal with such issues. Government inspectors have also revealed that even if a plant was inspected and food safety violations were found, they were not always properly handled or resolved.

The food safety inspection report indicates that even though the FDA could assign infractions, the agency would have to establish protocol to assure the violations were resolved; the agency failed to take corrective actions against as much as 25% of food manufacturing operations. Many facilities that were visited and cited received no further follow up later to ensure compliance. The reason for the lack of inspections? A reduced FDA staff and more limited resources.

This kind of stuff is scary when you consider that every year at least 76 million people nationwide are taken ill due to food borne illnesses. Within these 76 million are at least 5,000 deaths. Lawsuit Financial, the pro-justice lawsuit funding company, reminds you that the public’s number one protection against food borne illness is not the FDA; it is the threat of a lawsuit. If you have been the victim of a food borne illness, you may wish to consider talking to a personal injury lawyer about filing a product liability lawsuit.

Mark Bello has thirty-three years experience as a trial lawyer and twelve years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life funding is needed during litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Business Associate of the Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado Associations for Justice, a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.