Food safety is a matter of intense public concern, and for good reason. Millions of annual cases of food ‘poisonings’ raise alarm not only about the food served in restaurants and fast-food outlets but also about foods bought in supermarkets. The introduction of genetically modified foods—immediately dubbed ‘Frankenfoods’—only adds to the general sense of unease. Finally, the events of September 11, 2001, heightened fears by exposing the vulnerability of food and water supplies to attacks by bioterrorists. How concerned should we be about such problems? Who is responsible for preventing them? Who benefits from ignoring them? Who decides?
Marion Nestle, author of the critically acclaimed
Food Politics, argues that ensuring safe food involves more than washing hands or cooking food to higher temperatures. It involves politics. When it comes to food safety, billions of dollars are at stake, and industry, government, and consumers collide over issues of values, economics, and political power—and not always in the public interest. Although the debates may appear to be about science, Nestle maintains that they really are about control: Who decides when a food is safe?
She demonstrates how powerful food industries oppose safety regulations, deny accountability, and blame consumers when something goes wrong, and how century-old laws for ensuring food safety no longer protect our food supply. Accessible, informed, and even-handed,
Safe Food is for anyone who cares how food is produced and wants to know more about the real issues underlying today’s headlines.
Table des matières
Preface to the 2010 Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction:
Food Safety Is Political
PART ONE
RESISTING FOOD SAFETY
1. The Politics of Foodborne Illness: Issues and Origins
2. Resisting Meat and Poultry Regulation, 1974–1994
3. Attempting Control of Food Pathogens, 1994–2002
4. Achieving Safe Food: Alternatives
PART TWO
SAFETY AS A SURROGATE:
THE IRONIC POLITICS OF FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY
5. Peddling Dreams: Promises versus Reality
6. Risks and Benefits: Who Decides?
7. The Politics of Government Oversight
8. The Politics of Consumer Concern: Distrust, Dread, and Outrage
Conclusion: The Future of Food Safety:
Public Health versus Bioterrorism
Epilogue
Appendix: The Science of Plant Biotechnology
Notes
List of Tables
List of Figures
Index
A propos de l’auteur
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. She is author of the award-winning Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, and What to Eat, among other books.
Plus d’ebooks du même auteur(s) / Éditeur
1 084 Ebooks dans cette catégorie
