Safety and the Food Supply

The United States is the largest producer of food in the world. Agriculture is one of America’s largest industries with more than 20 million people working in agriculture-related jobs. Our country produces so much food that we export more than $60 billion worth of agricultural products each year. Keeping this vast supply of food safe is very important. Food safety is about making sure that foods stay fresh while traveling from farms to supermarkets and, ultimately, to your kitchen table. It’s about making sure foods are labeled so consumers know what ingredients are in products. Safe growing, manufacturing, preparing, and shipping practices ensure that foods are produced in clean environments, that foods don’t contain additives that could cause illness, that they aren’t tampered with at any point in the process, and that even the packaging the food comes in is safe. This is an enormous job, and this is the story of how it gets done—or doesn’t get done—and who is responsible for it.