Food and Drug Safety - Essay Example

The FDA changed terms like “irradiation” to “cold pasteurization” to improve sales, as consumers shy away from terms that involve radiation (Unit Six page 5).  In these cases, the organizations took no action to change processes or procedures but merely took action to change a product's placement in the market.  It is surprising to consider the enormous impact these organizations must therefore play in product sales, and even which companies are able to succeed in national markets.

From this example, I learned that food safety may sometimes not play as large of a role as economics in the food we, as consumers, are led to believe is safe—or even more shockingly the medicines that we take for sicknesses and disabilities.  In the future, knowledge of these pressures has convinced me to take a more proactive approach to my health by more closely inspecting health labels and researching processing techniques that may appear as ambiguous statements, such as the “cold pasteurization” example above.  By taking a proactive approach, consumers, like myself, can make better, more informed decisions about their health and well-being.  They can also act to be more involved in policy-making on food and drugs and encourage truth in labeling and advertising.