7.7 Agency's Role


After reviewing http://www.ecoemploy.com/agency.html , I was interested in finding out more about the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's role in environmental health. The most popular topics were animal health, animal welfare, biotechnology, emergency response, wildlife damage, and plant health.
 

 In animal health, this sector works to protect the, "health, quality, marketability" of the animals in the U.S- cattle, pigs, etc... the animals do include wildlife as well as animal products. This agency's role works to prevent animal diseases and eliminate them. Which is interesting given what we learned about the overuse of antibiotics in the meat industry. I also checked out the monitoring and surveillance (NANHMS) which includes documents and studies related to the health management of domestic livestock. I looked through a document that was named Control and Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis on Table-Egg Farms in the U.S, 2013. This goes over the an assessment used to analyze egg safety rules. What I learned through briefly reading this poultry study was that 90% of birds had been vaccinated against Salmonella.

This agency is adamant about protecting human consumers against diseases like Salmonella that can be acquired through consumption of eggs. This is important as a lot of people here in the U.S rely on eggs as a key component of their breakfasts. This is a key way in which Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service protects the supply of food and the population of those that eat it.While I do admire the preventative measures taken to ensure this bacteria isn't transmitted to humans, I can't help but read the information with skepticism. I do believe regulations are established to protect the consumer but I also think it is also to protect the egg producing companies too and ensure their profits. Like the animal health sector stated it works to protect the marketability too.

Comments

  1. Krissy PamatmatOctober 20, 2017 at 2:08 PM

    Hi Mayra,

    Your post is very educational. I'm glad to know that the USDA prioritizes protecting people against diseases that can be acquired from consuming certain food products. If this agency protects health, quality, marketability of the animal products in the U.S., I think they also need to look into pesticide residues found in meat. While I was writing my blog post about pesticides, I found out that pork, chicken, and beef have pesticide residues which can be harmful to our health. I think the agency need to explore this issue more and provide services and regulations.

    - Krissy

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