Death by Food

If you've ever suffered from food poisoning, you're certainly not alone. About 76 million Americans and between 11 and 13 million Canadians suffer from a foodborne illness every year. That means that over one-in-every four suffers from some form of food poisoning on an annual basis. Food poisoning is now one of the leading causes of illness in both Canada and the United States. Deaths due to foodborne pathogens total about 5,000 annually for the US. That means that more people die every year than were murdered in 9/11. Yet, we don't hold memorial services for them. This book alerts you to the most common bacteria, spores, parasites and viruses that could kill you. It then covers some of the more recent tragedies. If you examine the regulatory systems governing food safety in both Canada and the US, you will uncover a jurisdictional "fuddle muddle". The industry hides behind the veil of HACCP, which is a methodology for anticipating hazards, and uses it as an excuse to avoid thorough end-of-production line testing, with the result that contaminated foods are entering the food chain. New and inexpensive packaging technology exists that can detect pathogens in plastic wrapped food. Industry and government are basically ignoring this leading-edge Canadian technology. Illness and death due to food could also be caused by colour additives, environmental contamination and the Mountains of Sugar, Canyons of Salt and Pools of Fat that are featured in the canned and prepared foods in your local supermarket, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart failure and stroke. Six common sense initiatives are covered that could greatly improve food safety in both Canada and the US. The biggest tragedy is that solutions already exist for many of the problems, yet industry is reluctant to use them and governments fail to act.