From news reports, it may seem that the grocery store has become a zone of biological warfare. Listeria has infected cantaloupe, salmonella has gotten into meats, and E.coli has occupied spinach. Indeed, these food-borne illnesses have caused, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 9.4 million illnesses in the American population and 3,000 deaths in the past year as well.

As of November 3, listeria-tainted cantaloupe have killed 29 people, making this outbreak the deadliest recorded U.S. outbreak of food-borne illness, surpassing a 1985 outbreak with similarly tainted Mexican cheese. Often times, these food-borne illnesses can be traced to one of two causes: improper preparation or storage of food or improper production of food. In the case of the cantaloupe, the tainted produce could be traced back to the producer: Jensen Farms.

The process for investigating contaminated foods is incredibly thorough, with the CDC leading the way once again. A search is made for more cases among people who may have been exposed and a map of the ill is created to try and find the source of the outbreak. Many of the victims are interviewed in order to determine the cause of their illness and if a certain food item is statistically implicated, further investigation into its ingredients and preparation may provide additional information into the nature of the outbreak.

Although the method of investigating an outbreak is often effective, many question the effectiveness of the government in preventing these outbreaks in the first place. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service, among other regulatory agencies, try to prevent these illnesses from occurring, but sometimes fall short of these goals. Senior Allison Young said, “I think that food-borne illnesses are a serious problem in the U.S. because of the shortcomings of our Food and Drug Administration; compared with similar sectors used by other countries, there is a considerable quality gap between their regulations and ours.”

Efforts in Congress have been made to remedy this situation, namely the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which won bipartisan approval in the House and Senate and was signed into law in January 2011. House Republicans however, voted overwhelmingly to cut the FDA’s budget and therefore halt the implementation of the law, which would prevent the hiring of more food inspectors and would leave the FDA unable to review, approve, or monitor the implementation of hazard prevention plans that are critical for identifying and removing contaminants at individual food facilities throughout the state and across the country.

Freshman Andrew Kwon said that the government probably does not do an adequate job of protecting consumers, but, “I feel that other issues the government has to deal with may be more eminent than dealing with food borne illnesses at the same time, food borne illnesses are generally a concern of quality, which may or may not be something that is easy to deal with.”

There are some things, however, that students and their parents can do to help protect themselves from food-borne illnesses. Sophomore Bradley Frizzell said, ”Before eating things like strawberries and apples,we always wash them under hot water, we pay attention to expiration dates, and also if the food has any type of dairy product in it, we try not to leave it out of the refrigerator very long.” People should cook meat and eggs thoroughly, separate utensils in order to prevent cross-contamination, refrigerating leftovers promptly, washing produce thoroughly, and reporting suspected food-borne illnesses to the local health department. They can also make sure that the restaurant which they eat at is inspected by the local health department and is properly sanitary.