FDA: Human, Animal Waste Threatens Produce
The biggest food safety risk for fresh fruits and vegetables as they are grown, picked or processed comes from human and animal waste, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration （FDA）. said Friday.
More than 9, 000 Americans die each year from food-borne diseases and some scientists believe fresh produce is the biggest carrier of contamination.
The FDA issued a set of draft guidelines for U. S. and foreign growers to carefully monitor worker hygiene, water quality, manure management and transportation.
These 34-page draft guidelines urged growers to give workers lessons on basic hygiene such as using soap to wash their hands, covering wounds that could come into contact with produce, and using only clean toilets.
The FDA guidelines identified “the major source of contamination ”for fresh produce as human or animal feces.
“We think just proper controls and proper attention to detail would make a big difference in food safety,” said and FDA official, “It is our belief that these guidelines would not be very costly.”
But grower groups disagreed with the FDA's assessment. “Most food-borne disease outbreaks that happen further down the distribution line are due to contamination because people preparing food are not properly washing their hands, ”said Stacey Zawal, an official with United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association. “That is not necessarily true for growers and packers.”
Some U. S. grower organizations have expressed concern that the agency is interfering with on-farm practices. Others object to the FDA's proposal to have growers formally document the picking, handling and transportation of produce so that health officials could quickly recall foods if necessary.
Consumer groups criticized the FDA guidelines as of little use because they will not carry the force of law. But stricter regulations could evolve as researchers find new technology or methods to kill harmful bacteria or parasites, the FDA said.
The FDA recommendations are due to be made final by the FDA later this year for use by U.S. and foreign growers. The matter of encouraging foreign growers to adopt the guidelines remains somewhat tricky but FDA officials say it is vital because of the huge amount of imported produce.
1. “Food-borne diseases” in this essay means those diseases
A. which people get by eating fruits which have been polluted
B. which people get by eating too many kinds of food.
C. which many kinds of fruit get when polluted by feces.
D. which fruit-growers get by their failure to keep themselves clean.
2. Some fruit grower groups believe that most food-borne diseases are caused by
A. growers' lack of attention to personal hygiene.
B. lack of effective guidelines.
C. the FDA's decision to import more foreign fruits and vegetables.
D. people involved in distributing fresh produce.
3. An FDA official said that putting the guidelines into practice
A. would be too costly to be effective.
B. would not cost any money.
C. would not be very expensive.
D. would needs lots of money.
4. Consumer groups criticized the FDA guidelines because they didn't think that these guidelines
A. had won enough support from the farmers.
B. had been written with strict regulations.
C. would surely be carried out.
D. included new technology.
5. The last paragraph suggests that
A. some tricks need to be adopted to encourage foreign growers to follow the FDA guidelines.
B. a good way should be found to encourage foreign growers to follow the FDA guidelines.
C. foreign growers consider the guidelines to be of great importance to them.
D. it is almost impossible to ask foreign farmers to follow the guidelines.