New food waste removal laws in America

A new law has been passed in America called the Food Safety Modernization Act, which is intended to prevent the tragedies associated with food contamination.

Indeed, the law has been in discussion for a long time, but last week on January 4th 2013, President Barack Obama finally signed the legislation which gives the Food and Drug Administration more power.

The country has seen a number of outbreaks of food poisoning such as salmonella and listeria - problems which come from poor food hygiene.

One of the reasons for this is inefficient waste removal schemes.

If food is not disposed of correctly, it can be contaminated and diseases can spread.

This is particularly true if the food is left outside the restaurant where it is prepared, as the diseases can then easily spread back into the eating establishment and into the meals of those who choose to eat there.

Inefficient waste removal is most dangerous for the people who work in these food establishments.

Employees can find themselves suffering from a number of illnesses owing to the poor hygiene.

However, employees themselves are sometimes the ones who spread the illnesses, through poor personal hygiene, refusing to wash their hands and cutting meat without gloves.

According to The Examiner, sometimes the reason behind poor hygiene is that employees are working places illegally.

"On farms, especially where field workers have no facilities, the field is the bathroom. In many instances where undocumented workers are hired there are no qualms by management about letting such things occur; if the field workers don’t like it, they can leave. It’s not likely anyone will go to the authorities because they fear deportation," it claimed.

The new laws are now in effect and it is hoped that it will make a radical change to the number of people taken to hospital and the number of tragedies associated to food-related illnesses.