Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/category/health/page/2/)
Fragmented oversight on food safety in the United States has allowed foodborne illness to persist as an expensive and all-too-frequent health concern, a new government report has found.
Many Iowans may not know what is in their water because their wells’ water quality is unregulated. Moreover, many well owners IowaWatch spoke with during an investigation this past year in counties across southwest Iowa said they largely were unconcerned about their wells, even though tests revealed high levels of nitrates and bacteria in some of their wells.
Some farmers applying pesticides to fields this summer might ignore symptoms of being exposed to the chemicals, like headaches or nausea. But mounting evidence shows chronic exposure to pesticides may increase risks for certain cancers, like prostate cancer, and for other chronic illnesses, like Parkinson’s and thyroid disease.
From our friends at Iowa Watch: Iowa’s wide expanses of row-cropped fields produced roughly 2.5 billion bushels of corn and 554 million bushels of soybeans in 2015. And for many, those high yields are thanks in part to pesticides. But what impact, if any, do those chemicals have on our health? It’s a controversial topic and the answer is hard to pin down. In many cases, those we spoke with said the jury is still out.
Months after a handful of senators called for better food-safety regulations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed new standards for cut up poultry. Currently, agencies only monitor whole poultry carcasses for pathogens.
When Congress approved a nearly $1 trillion spending bill late last week, it also approved increased funding to federal food-safety programs. Under the new 2015 appropriations bill, two U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies will receive an estimated $40 million in funding.
As Americans gear up to eat more than 40 million pounds of turkey this month, a handful of U.S. senators are calling for stronger Department of Agriculture oversight to reduce pathogens in poultry. Their push follows a recent government report that found poultry products – such as chicken and turkey – cause more foodborne-illness deaths than any other commodity.
Authorities this month issued recall alerts affecting hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, including thousands of pounds of chicken contaminated with potentially deadly – and costly – bacteria.
At least eight food products had to be recalled so far this month, federal food-safety agencies reported. Recalled products include tomatoes possibly tainted with Salmonella and bagels potentially covered in glass.
Farming, once again, is one of the country's deadliest jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released preliminary occupational fatality data this week, revealing that farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers have the eighth-highest workplace fatality rates.