Food Source Labeling Essay Example

Should the U.S. government require food manufacturers to label food sourcing information on packaging? As of February 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (or FDA) states that “food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients in the food on the label” (F.D.A. 6). That requirement is not currently extended to food sourcing. The government should require manufacturers to label food sources on packaging because there can be health dangers due to the lack of knowledge of the food source, there has been demand from consumers for food source labeling, and any issues in food cannot be traced back to the source. 

As of January 12, 2021, the FDA is proposing further food sourcing information requirements. The reasoning behind this proposal is “the proposed requirements would help the FDA rapidly and effectively identify recipients of those foods to prevent or mitigate foodborne illness outbreaks and address credible threats of serious adverse health consequences or death” (FDA 1). The Food and Drug Administration is not the only government food health organization that has found many possible health dangers from lack of information on food source labeling. On February 2, 2021, the CDC reported a new E Coli outbreak. The CDC announced that the FDA, USDA, and other health organizations are struggling to trace the outbreak to the food source (CDC 1). The CDC is investigating different foods that were in contact with the infected (CDC 1). In the investigation it is being assumed the outbreak came from the people eating the same food and therefore contracting the bacteria. With more food source requirements the process of tracing a foodborne bacteria outbreak would be much faster and could prevent more people getting sick. Some would argue that more food source labeling is not necessary because foodborne illnesses are not common. This has been proven wrong because the FDA reported that “about 48 million people in the U.S. (1 in 6) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases” (FSMA 1).

In the food industry the producers and consumers rely on each other. With the producers relying heavily on the consumers it is important for them to listen to what the consumers are wanting. With food sourcing labeled on food items consumers would have access to information about where their food came from. If food source labeling was required consumers would be able to have more control over what they decide to eat. Consumers could make informed choices of what to purchase if they knew where it was sourced from. As Micheal Pollan, author of the award winning book The Omnivore's Dilemma, likes to put it “you can simply stop participating in a system that abuses animals or poisons the water or squanders jet fuel flying asparagus around the world. You can vote with your fork, in other words, and you can do it three times a day” (Pollan 2). To “vote with your fork” means consumers choose what they want to support with their money. When a consumer buys something the demand goes up which then causes the producer to supply more of that item. When consumers want something they can decide to support the producers that are doing that. 

Consumers have previously demanded food source labeling. When the consumers demand something the producers often benefit by obliging. If consumers have access to information they can take their food choices into their own hands and decide what they choose to support. The argument of the cost of adding labeling information has been brought up in the past. This argument cannot be proven to be correct or incorrect because every situation is different, but it can be assumed that showing food sourcing would add cost to producers while also bringing in customers that have sought out the information before. 

As mentioned previously, there can be many issues with tracing food back to the source. Without labeling food traceability is quite difficult. The FDA has released a “food traceability list” (FTL). This list has been said that it “identifies the foods for which the additional traceability records described in the proposed rule would be required” (FDA 1). In the FTL a “risk ranking model” was created to find which foods are such a risk that they require additional source labeling. Another reason for additional traceability requirements was put forth by the USDA. The USDA stated that certain foods commonly transfer foodborne illness. These “high risk” foods require more labeling requirements. When foodborne illness spreads it is often difficult to trace it back due to the lack of labeling. It has been argued that foodborne illnesses are not severe and, therefore, the information needed to trace back the food source is not of much importance. This argument can be quickly dismissed because, according to the FDC, some foodborne illness could have extremely severe outcomes, some even ending with death (CDC 2). 

With some foodborne illnesses having the possibility of extreme severity, traceability in foods is of great importance. Labeling the source of food products should be required because of possible health dangers due to the lack of information, the consumers want to know food sourcing, and food traceability issues can be extremely dangerous. It is time to, as consumers, demand food source labeling. This lack of knowledge could be catastrophic and it is time to do something about it.  

Works Cited 

“E. Coli Outbreak With Unknown Food Source”, CDC, 2 Feb 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2021/o157h7-02-21/index.html. 

“Food Labeling - an Overview”,The National Agricultural Law Center, https://nationalaglawcenter.org/overview/food-labeling/. 

“Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)” FDA, https://www.fda.gov/food/guidance-regulation-food-and-dietary-supplements/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma. 

“Food Traceability List”, FDA, 12 Jan 2021, https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/food-traceability-list. 

“Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives, and Colors”, FDA, 6 Feb 2018, https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/overview-food-ingredients-additives-colors#:~:text=On%20a%20product%20label%2C%20the,abbreviated%20name%2C%20Blue%201).. 

Pollan, Micheal. “Voting With Your Fork” On the table,  The New York Times, 7 May 2006, https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/voting-with-your-fork/. 

“Product Specifications and Requirements” USDA, https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/product-specs. 

“Traceability in the US food supply” USDA, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/41623/28666_aer830a_1_.pdf?v=9019.5.