[View Point] The ‘Human Side’ of Food Safety

Until you walk in another person’s shoes it’s impossible to fully understand the challenges encountered by those who face the daily concerns of life-threatening food allergies. That’s why I found Managing Editor Lisa Lupo’s cover story about the Keaton family so enlightening (see story on page 16). Lupo recently traveled to Rockville, Md., to spend some time with the family — which faces an array of food safety concerns — in an attempt to get a sense for what it’s like to live with life-threatening allergies.

What I learned is that people with severe food allergies must always be on guard; they can never relax. Sixteen-year-old Daniel Keaton points out there are a lot of people who don’t take his health concerns seriously, believing a person can simply take a pill to relieve the symptoms. “People think, ‘Oh, you start sneezing,’” he said. “No, I start dying.”

And if statistics cited by The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) are any indication, Daniel has a lot of company. According to FAAN, an advocacy group dedicated to raising public awareness about this important topic, food allergies are a growing public health concern in the United States with more than 12 million Americans impacted. Food allergies also are believed to be the leading cause of anaphylaxis outside the hospital setting, causing an estimated 50,000 emergency room visits annually, so it’s a problem with serious public health implications. Yet it doesn’t get the attention it deserves in large part because of the public’s lack of understanding about food allergies and the QA professional’s role in food safety. As Lupo writes, “...while most consumers relate food safety to pathogenic contamination, such as Salmonella or E. coli, in the Keaton’s world, and that of all those with food allergies, food safety takes on a much broader definition.”

So, why did QA magazine decide to run a story about an obscure family in Maryland rather than highlight the quality assurance program of a prominent food processor in this month’s issue? Too often the human side of food safety is lost in the day-to-day attention our readers devote to QA best practices and HACCP principles. While each of these obviously are critical job functions, they’re performed away from the public eye in the relatively sterile environment of a food plant. 

It’s important to always remember, however, that one in 25 Americans suffer from food allergies, making the work you perform in your plant on a daily basis an essential public health service.

So the next time you’re cleaning a food preparation surface or changing over a line, think of 16-year-old Daniel Keaton. He’s very precious to his mom, Kari, and it’s not overstating the case to say that his life is in your hands.

The author is publisher of QA magazine.