Table Of ContentEat, Drink, and Be Wary
Praise for Eat, Drink, and Be Wary
“Eat,Drink,andBeWarycomesasarudeawakeningtothefactthatourgovernmentis
asleep at the wheel in safeguarding our foods. In this book, Charles M. Duncan has
remindedusaboutthehorrifyingtruthofthedeterioratingqualityoffoodsweconsume
daily.Healsoinformsus,theconsumers,astowhatwecandotoreversethisdestructive
trend.”—ChenshengAlexLu,PhD,associateprofessorofenvironmentalexposurebiol-
ogy,HarvardSchoolofPublicHealth
“InEat,Drink,andBeWaryDuncanoffersusagruesomepanoramaoftheglobalfood
industry,itsfrailtiesanditsdangers.Ifweconsideredfoodtobeamorecriticalfactorin
health,wemightinspectandcareforthissystemdifferently.ButasDuncanshows,food
isbutacommodity,inspectedandmonitoredbyalackadaisicalpoliticalsystem,created
andsoldatminimalcosttoconsumerswhoareanonymousandreplaceable.Thisbookisa
quickoverview,productbyproduct,crisisbycrisis,ofthecurrentdangersinourindustri-
al foods.” —Carolyn Smith-Morris, PhD, MS, LPC, associate professor, Southern
MethodistUniversity
“Agreatrepositoryoffactsforanyonewhoisconcernedaboutfoodsafety.Itisamuch
neededoutcryfortransparencyinourfoodproduction.”—MarkPost,MD,PhD,profes-
sorandchairofphysiology,MaastrichtUniversity
“Foodborneillnessesandthequalityoffoodproductionandpreparationaremajorissues
intheUnitedStates.Thisisamust-readforeveryparentandforanyoneinterestedintheir
generalhealth.Themoreknowledgeablewearethemoretransparentandaccountablethe
industry must become. The quality of our food should always be held to the highest
standardsandnotallowedtocontinuetobeaformofculinaryRussianroulette.”—Bill
Macatee,announcerfortheNFLonCBS,USOpenTennis,golf
“Inhiscarefullyresearchedbook,CharlesM.Duncancomprehensivelyaddresseshazards
astheycomewithourdailyfood.Basedonsolidfacts,figures,andreferences,hefasci-
natinglydiscussesnutritionalsafetyandsecurityacrosstheboard:frombioterrorismover
foodimportsandgeneticallymodifiedorganismstooutbreaksoffoodborneillnesses,and
others. The bookalsoincludeshoned criticism of thedispersionof responsibilityinthe
U.S.systemofgovernment,aswellaspracticaltipsonhowtomitigatefood-relatedrisks
inour everyday lives.Thisworkisan excellent contribution tofostering homelandand
civilsecuritydebatesinanall-hazardscontext,aswellastoincreasingsocietalawareness
and preparedness.” —Alexander Siedschlag, PhD, professor and chair of Homeland
SecurityandPublicHealthPreparedness,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,PennState
Harrisburg
“ForAmericans,eatinghealthymayonlybeachallengeatthestartofourdailyroutine.
Finding a variety of safe, healthy, and available foods impacts the health of us all. As
some of our everyday interactions have been marked with more invasiveness, Duncan
poses questions on food safety, trends in risk management with nutrition, and concerns
with the oversight needed to prevent food threats from natural hazards to terrorism.
Information on eating safely may be a new top of the food pyramid.” —J. Eric Dietz,
PhD, PE, director, Purdue Homeland Security Institute, and professor of computer and
informationtechnology
“CharlesDuncanhasprovidedasobering,andpotentiallystomach-churning,lookatthe
gapsinourfoodsafetysystem.Controlsonfoodimportsarenegligible,domesticcontrols
are too lax, and food producers are taking short-cuts and risks that should alarm every
consumer.” —Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO, The Humane Society of the United
States
“A must-read for policy makers and elected officials—while they are eating! Duncan
documents one of the most important crises in America—the safety of our food.” —
DavidA. Sterling,PhD,CIH, professorand chairof theDepartmentof Environmental
and Occupational Health Sciences, director doctoral PhD program, School of Public
Health,UniversityofNorthTexasHealthScienceCenter
“AlotoftheinformationCharlesDuncanincludesinEat,Drink,andBeWary,isscaryas
hell!However,byreadingthisbook,wewillallbebetterinformedaboutthechoiceswe
makeandthefoodsweeat.ThankyouCharlesandBONAPPETITya’ll!”—RutaLee,
Canadianactress,Hollywood,California
“Charles M. Duncan has assembled a significant amount of data on the problems with
allowing uninspected and untested food products to enter the marketplace. Duncan out-
linesthemajorfailuresofthegovernmentagenciesinallowinghealthyfoodtoreachthe
tabletop.”—JohnUbelaker,PhD,SouthernMethodistUniversity
“Eat,Drink,andBeWaryisadetailedexaminationofthefailureofgovernmentoversight
agencies to protect consumers from food companies that place profit above everything
else.Thisfailureoftheagenciesthataresupposedtooverseethefoodindustriesleadsto
horriblecrueltytofarmanimalsandapollutedfoodsupply.Youwillcryand,ifyouhave
adarksenseofhumor,youwilllaugh.Myhopeisthatyouwillalsobespurredtoaction.”
—BruceFriedrich,directorofadvocacyandpolicy,FarmSanctuary
Eat, Drink, and Be Wary
How Unsafe Is Our Food?
Charles M. Duncan
EDITEDBYDIANAKEARLEYDUNCAN
ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD
Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London
PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield
AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706
www.rowman.com
UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB
Copyright©2015byRowman&Littlefield
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Duncan,Charles,author.
Eat,drink,andbewary:howunsafeisourfood?/CharlesM.Duncan.
p.;cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4422-3839-8(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-1-4422-3840-4(electronic)
I.Title.
DNLM:1.FoodSafety--UnitedStates.2.Bioterrorism--UnitedStates.3.DrugResistance,
Bacterial--UnitedStates.4.FoodContamination--UnitedStates.5.FoodborneDiseases--United
States.WA695].
RA601.52015
363.19'26--dc23
2014026995
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Idedicatethisbooktomyuntiringwife,DianaKearleyDuncan,who
persistentlyspentuntoldhoursproofingandeditingEat,Drink,andBe
Wary:HowUnsafeIsOurFood?Dianahelpedresearchmanyareasof
foodsafetyandgavemeencouragementandthemomentumtokeepupa
sometimes-franticpace.Sheunselfishlyputonholdabookshewasstart-
ingtowriteinordertolendhersupporttothisprojectinnumerousways.
DedicatingEat,Drink,andBeWarytoDianaisaccompaniedbymy
overwhelmingloveandjoytobewiththishugelysuccessfulbusiness-
woman,adearanddedicatedfriendtomanyandalovingwifetome.
