Should the Government Regulate What You Eat?

Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______Guided Reading “Should the Government Regulate What You Eat?”

A. EVALUATE the article when you finish reading. What is the PURPOSE or GOAL of the article? Why did the author write this article? Answer with a full sentence. ______B. Was the article evaluative (both sides of the story), persuasive (think this way/change your mind), narrative (unbiased, telling a story), informative (for the sake of knowing), or pure entertainment (fiction/funny)? ______C. Pick out 3 new vocabulary words and define them on the back of this sheet. No names or acronyms. (Do not select things like “New York, Sally Smith, IRS, USA”)

D. Answer the following questions after you read. 1. Question one is a content question. 3. Question three is an inference question.

To which people is salmonella most Why can’t consumers know if a particular dangerous? piece of chicken or egg is contaminated with salmonella?

a. People between the ages of 20 and 40 a. Temperature readings are inaccurate b. Young, old, and people with weak b. Bacteria is extremely small and can not immune systems be seen on the food c. Students and teenagers c. They won’t know where the egg came from d. Very old people d. Salmonella looks like good bacteria

2. Question two is a content question. 4. Question four is a content question.

Why was the New Jersey “runny egg” law What organization was created to protect the repealed in 1992? public from harmful foods and drugs?

a. People wanted to be warned but still a. Food and Good Drug Inc. (FGD Inc.) make the decision for themselves b. Keep Food and Drugs Clean (KFDC) b. People didn’t like eggs or chicken c. Association of Healthy Food (AHF) c. People didn’t care if others got sick d. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) d. People thought salmonella was fake

1 Question five is an open-ended debate question. Be sure to read all of the requirements of the question. For example, if the question asks for two examples of supporting details from the text, be sure to give two. Write your answer in the space provided.

5. Give one reason why you would support government regulation of food, including the “runny egg” law and one reason you would not support it. Is it the responsibility of the government to protect consumers?

2 Issues and Decisions “Should the Government Regulate What You Eat?”

Most of the chickens eaten in the United States restaurants in their state. Legislators reasoned are raised on huge factory farms. Because of that such a law was necessary because it is the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in impossible to tell with the unaided eye whether some farms, many chickens and their eggs are an egg is infected with salmonella. The law was contaminated with salmonella. Salmonella is a passed in 1990. bacterium that can cause an illness with flulike symptoms such as mild diarrhea and fever. Consumer Response Although New Jersey’s Eating food infected with salmonella bacteria “runny egg” law was meant to guard the can also cause a form of arthritis as well as public’s health, it proved unpopular. Many neurological symptoms such as paralysis. consumers argued that it was their right to Elderly people, infants, and small children, as choose how they ordered eggs in restaurants. well as people with weakened immune systems, The risk would be theirs, they argued, and the have died from salmonella poisoning from restaurant should not be liable to lawsuits. meat and poultry every year, and as many as These New Jersey consumers felt that it was 2600 people die from it. the job of the FDA simply to warn them of health problems associated with food products, New Jersey’s “Runny Egg” Law Since the not to limit their personal freedom. second half of the nineteenth century, the federal government has passed laws to protect Public health officials were surprised at this consumers against contaminated food. In 1906, strong public reaction. They argued that it was journalist Upton Sinclair exposed the filthy government’s job to protect the health and conditions in the slaughterhouses of the meat safety of consumers. The officials claimed that, industry in his best-selling book, The Jungle. because not all consumers are aware of health As a result of his graphic descriptions, the problems associated with certain foods, federal government passed the Federal Meat government has an obligation to pass laws that Inspection Act of 1906. The government acted prohibit restaurants from serving food that may not only because its duty to protect the public, be harmful to them. However, a large number but in response to an enormous public outcry. of people in New Jersey did not agree. The law The public continued to call for federal laws to was repealed in 1992. Just two short years after protect them from harmful foods and drugs. it was first passed. The result was a continuous series of pure food and drug laws, culminating in the creation of Do Food Preparation Laws Still Exist? The the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in answer is yes. Despite the public’s annoyance, 1931. The FDA exercises the government’s and sometimes anger with these laws, they still authority to protect consumers against harmful exist. There are laws and systems that have foods, cosmetics, and medicines. been established to help ensure that the food served in restaurants is safe. Bacteria grow very The problem of salmonella contamination in easily if given the chance. poultry and eggs was publicized by the FDA in 1990. The FDA warned consumers to cook The local Health Department will send out chicken thoroughly, and not to eat runny eggs inspectors to make sure that the chefs and in which the yolk had not been completely servers are following the proper guidelines. cooked. In response, public health officials in Inspectors will issue fines for minor violations New Jersey called for legislation to prohibit the and can shut places down for major violations. serving of incompletely cooked eggs in all

3 A system called HACCP – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point consists of seven important steps to ensure food safety. This system was actually first designed to maintain food safety for NASA astronauts so you know this stuff works! The three main elements of the system are: food microbiology, quality control and risk assessment.

The most recent food safety laws deal with proper meat and vegetable preparation. All meat must be cooked to a certain temperature in order to kill all bacteria. Unfortunately, this usually requires restaurants to cook meat to a medium color. This eliminates the possibility of a “rare” burger or steak at most establishments. If the consumer gets sick, the restaurant is liable unless they can prove they cooked the meat appropriately. Because of this, most will refuse to allow anything rare to leave the kitchen. Vegetables also are prone to bacterial growth since they are usually kept moist in supermarkets and restaurants to keep them crispy. Vegetable contamination is becoming more common because more people are eating vegetables uncooked these days to maintain their full nutritional value.

Finding the balance between governmental protection and personal choice is hard to find when there are so many opinions about where the responsibility lies.