Ruble 1 C.A.P Project Reflection 1.

If I had and extra 24 hours to work on my piece I would do more research on other countries and how their version of the FDA works and their regulation works. I feel like it would have helped my paper a lot being able to compare how different countries operate. 2. I think you need to know that I made a lot of revisions to my paper and was constantly changing things through out the entire process. It was really difficult chopping out half of my paper after our conference. I was not happy about that, but actually found it surprisingly easier to piece my paper together without all the other stuff. Despite all the things I took out I still feel like I was trying to focus on too many areas and was struggling to make it all cohesive with my overall purpose. I dont think that my amount of research was a problem, it was just simply being able to tie all of that information to one common goal, which I feel I could have done better at. I feel like I kind of had an information overload. I also could have rephrased many things to make it more clear as to who exactly my audience was. I also feel like my conclusion was terrible, I could not figure out how to tie all of my ideas into a few summary sentences and still grab the readers attention. 3. I think you need to focus most on the issues with regulations within the FDA. Also focus on how even the general public is beginning to be concerned as it is an ever present part of the discussion and topic at hand today.

Ruble 2 Ruble, William Anthony Borerro English 1102 11 April 2013 Public Shows New Concern For FDA Regulation Flaws The number of recalls causing foods and other products to be taken off the shelves is astounding. In the past year there were 2,363 recalls of medical devices, food, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals. The number of recalls each year has actually risen 14 percent since 2007. Although not all of these recalls were food related this still equates to around 6.5 recalls per day. These figures have begun raising questions from the public especially related to health. (Doering, Gannett). Why are the products put out in the first place? It is a hazard to peoples health and is unacceptable simply because the FDA does not regulate all products consumers use. If you are going to leave it up to other organizations and companies to ensure the safety of their products there needs to at least be more testing before the products should be put on the market. Why are some products regulated by the FDA and others not? Food additives are another huge issue with regulation and consumer safety. Things such as food dyes and artificial flavorings are all additives. The labeling of these additives and other food related products are questionable. There are some products that the only thing the FDA does is oversee the labeling of the products. It is important to examine how and what other countries do in terms of regulation of consumer goods involving health and wellness. The meat industry has made a big change recently in terms of its regulation by the FDA. Certain things dont add up, as to

Ruble 3 why the FDA is allowed to regulate the labeling of products, but the not actual product within certain things. The meaning of regulation by the FDA standards is that certain products and consumer goods are monitored and checked for safety, quality, and even health guidelines. Each type of product has its own set of criteria for which it must abide by to be regulated by the FDA, and if it does not meet the criteria after testing it will not be released to the public. According to a recent article on the FDA, the FDA has been trying to set new guidelines and criteria for testing food and meat before it is put on the market to stop all the recalls on food. These supposable guidelines range anywhere from irrigation of water on farms to what to do in the event of a contamination, and even simply record keeping (Strom, Stephanie). If this is true then why are there still so any recalls on foods when the FDA is supposedly testing products before they are put on the market? It seems counter productive that if the FDA is regulating these products and yet there are still constantly recalls. Local places such as Trader Joes in the past few months have had E. coli recalls and issues with products (Charles, Dan). Recent events such as this have happened since the new regulations and testing of foods. Regulation issues are ever present in all situations regarding the FDA; recently there have been problems with regulation of additives in foods. The FDA has always regulated additives in food, but recently they have been rethinking their take on the issue and have been seriously considering changing their regulations. In 2011 there was a meeting discussing the affects that additives have on children such as a possibility if hyperactivity in children. They not only had to change the their regulations, but also the labeling was being reconsidered to help educate the

Ruble 4 consumer more about what exactly they are buying. According to (Gardner, Amanda) The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees, but it usually does. Apparently the issues with additives such as food dye have been theorized since the 1970s but the FDA has yet to change their regulations despite concerns from the public until the first public upbringing of the issue in 2008. It seems like an unnecessary amount of time that between 2008 and 2011 nothing happened to change the FDAs regulations on dyes and additives. The European union has put labeling of six different additives on products, but the British equivalent to our FDA has asked companies to outright take the additives out completely. Despite all of the controversy of the issues of additives and the affects it has on the consumer our FDA is still reluctant to take them out completely because it would be extremely difficult with the widespread use of them that we have. Processed foods are not the only issue; other products such as the meat industry have regulation issues also. The FDA has recently unbanned the substances benzoic acid, sodium propionate, and sodium benzoate from being used in meat products. It was believed that these substances had the ability to hide damages to the meat from the consumer. The reason for the change in regulation is because the Kraft foods company wanted to use some of these substances to prevent the growth of listeria monocytogenes, which is a bacteria that can cause infections for young and old people. The FDA approved the use of these substances as long as they are used in certain doses approved by the FDA, but it is difficult to regulate something that specific (Janquart, Philip). According to an article in 2011 the meat industry is also not regulating antibiotic use on factory farms anymore. The reason being that it was already obvious that routine use of these drugs would generate antibiotic-

Ruble 5 resistant pathogens that endanger humans (Tom Philpott). Ever since this lack of regulation the meat industry has put animals in poor living conditions and tight living quarters. Even in these tight living conditions the animals are given daily supplements of antibiotics. The FDA recently revealed that factory animal farms now burn through fully 80 percent of all antibiotics consumed in the United States (Tom Philpott). The meat industry continues to pump their livestock with antibiotic drugs to prevent the growth of bacteria even though they know it could potentially cause humans to be antibiotic resistant. A recent study has shown that as a result of humans becoming resistant to antibiotics it can cause tuberculosis whooping cough and even gonorrhea (How The Meat). According to a recent article in 2013 after the issue became a public issue this was stated. Now that this study has been made public, however, policymakers are pointing to it as evidence that the FDA needs more regulatory oversight in this area of the meat industry(How The Meat). The public even spoke their voice and said that 60 percent of people would pay 5 cents extra per pound of meat simply in return for not raising the livestock with antibiotics. If people are having this many issues with our FDA and regulation despite public concern, this creates questions about how other countries operate and regulate things and whether or not their policies work better. In Canada their version of the FDA is called the HPFB, which is also known as the health products and food branch. Looking at how other countries operate with the same issues and problems we have can be extremely beneficial. The HPFB is in charge of ensuring the health and safety of products and consumer goods just like our FDA. Not only is the HPFB in charge of food safety, but it also promotes health and wellness. Within the HPFB is a branch of operation called the Food Directorate which interacts with all levels

Ruble 6 of the government, not just the higher level parts. The HPFB is in charge of research, creating viable criteria for the marketing of goods, and even providing assistance to people with health choices (Common Menu). It seems that other countries such as Canada are more strict about he regulation and guidelines of products and even just the general health choices people make in their daily lives. Canadas guidelines for what is a marketable food product is much different than ours and it seems that they undergo more testing and questioning than our products. Which brings to question, does this lower the total number of recalls on foods and other products compared to ours and do we need to rethink how our FDA is working and regulating products. It is important to learn form other countries and how they operate and do certain things. Maybe then regulation of meat and poultry products would steer away form antibiotic use in livestock because of obvious health reasons. Additives in food also need to be looked at more closely to ensure their safety and need more testing guidelines before they are marketed. The FDAs main job is to protect people from products that could be hazardous to their health by regulations, testing, and maintaining guidelines that products must face before they are put on the market. Although the FDAs job is to all of those things there are still numerous recalls, regulations that slip through the cracks, and most importantly actual public concern about products. The FDA needs to fix regulation flaws and problems that even the public is beginning to notice.

Ruble 7 Works Cited Charles, Dan, and April Fulton. "FDA Releases Rules To Strengthen Safety Of Food Supply." NPR. NPR, 04 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. "Common Menu Bar Links." Safe and Nutritious Food [Health Canada, 2006] . N.p., 17 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. Doering, Gannett Washington Bureau, Christopher. "Surge in Products Being Recalled May Be Numbing Consumers." USATODAY.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. Gardner, Amanda, and Copyright Health Magazine 2011. "FDA Weighs Food Dye, Hyperactivity Link." CNN. Cable News Network, 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. "How The Meat Industry Is Fueling The Rise Of Drug-Resistant Diseases." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. Janquart, Philip M. "FDA Approves Three Meat Preservatives." Courthouse News Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Strom, Stephanie. "F.D.A. Proposes Broad New Rules On Food Safety." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. "Tom Philpott." Mother Jones. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013