Posted: June 24th, 2012 - 8:27pm
Source: MLive

Over the past two months, a food-borne illness outbreak linked to salmonella in raw tuna has sickened more than 300 people nationwide — and caused many consumers to second-guess what’s actually in their spicy tuna rolls.
A recent investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found filthy conditions in the facility in India that processed the tuna. Perhaps the outbreak should have come as no surprise; a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that food-borne illnesses linked to imported foods are increasing. Sixteen years ago, I learned how real this threat truly is.
As is the case for many primary-school children, my daughter’s celebration of Valentine’s Day was full of paper cards and sweet treats, including a festive slice of strawberry shortcake. When Hallie, then 8, became ill days later — vomiting and crying uncontrollably from pain — we arrived at the hospital to see the familiar faces of her classmates and teachers who had come in with similar symptoms.
A week later, Hallie was released from the hospital but continued to experience the debilitating effects of a Hepatitis A infection. Her weakened immune system caused her to miss school, give up soccer and dance, and become ostracized by her friends, whose parents kept their children away from her out of fear that she would spread the disease. In the first three years after the incident, Hallie had nine strep and multiple bronchial infections.
We would later learn that the illness that sickened 260 people in our small Michigan town was from frozen strawberries imported from Mexico that were contaminated with Hepatitis A.
About two-thirds of the fruits and vegetables and 80 percent of the seafood consumed by Americans is imported, and as our global food market continues to expand, so do the dangers. Even more unsettling is the fact that, according to the CDC, the imported food items linked to food-borne illnesses are often unknown or not reported.
In an effort to combat this public health risk, President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law in January 2011. The legislation is the first major update to food safety oversight in more than 70 years. Under the law, every food manufacturer must frequently look for food safety threats, adopt practices to avoid dangers in food and keep records of those steps that can be reviewed by government inspectors.
Additionally, overseas food suppliers must meet U.S safety standards, and the FDA will be inspecting food manufacturing facilities — especially those abroad — more than ever.
But to do all this work, the FDA must have sufficient resources. The American public overwhelmingly supports strong food safety laws and adequate funding for this core function of government
As we enter the summer season — the peak for food-borne illness outbreaks — our families remain at risk from the dangerous and, at times, deadly impacts of contaminated food. With the right safeguards in place, my daughter’s illness could have been prevented.
Kathy Dopp lives in Marshall. Her daughter contracted Hepatitis A as a child, when she ate contaminated strawberries at a school party.