Samantha Moessinger

Mrs. DeBock
22 September 2016
English 4
Essential Question: What issues are we having with food safety?
Working Thesis: Food can become contaminated with harmful bacteria and other
microorganisms during preparation, serving, or storage, and chemical residues that remain on
foods sprayed with insecticides may be ingested by humans and cause an illness, even after
produce has been washed and cleaned.
Refined Thesis: Food is vital to survive, making its safety an issue of utmost importance.
Annotated Bibliography
Driscoll, Sally, and Nancy Sprague. "Food Contamination: An Overview." Points Of View: Food
Contamination (2016): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Estimates
that approximately 48 million people get sick from food poisoning annually, although the vast
majority of cases go unreported. Restaurant workers who forget to wash their hands and handle
foodstuffs and equipment, or perishable foods that have been left out of refrigeration long
enough to grow bacteria are two common causes of food poisoning. Irradiation, a solution to
preventing many foodborne illnesses that is widely practiced, also generates hostility. Critics
believe the process is harmful because it not only kills off undesirable bacteria but also valuable
vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. This article is relevant to my research because it talks about
food contamination.
"Food Safety." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing

Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

Various current practices in the food industry, designed to increase quantity and resist
disease in plants and animals, are changing the food supply and raising serious concerns about its
safety. These practices include the use of biotechnology to produce genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) and antibiotics to strengthen livestock. GMOs in food products have faced
considerable opposition in the United States and other countries. American scientists and farmers
maintain that GMOs are safe and can enhance the quality of food, however, many other people
worry about the negative effects of these substances over the long term. Fears about the harmful
effects of antibiotics, hormones, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and GMOs in food products
are leading to more consumers in the United States and other countries to buy food labeled
organic. This article is relevant to my research because it explains what GMOs do to our crops.

Goldmark, S. M., and Heather Newton. "Counterpoint: The Government Should Monitor The
Agricultural Industry In Order To Reduce Food Contamination." Points Of View: Food
Contamination (2016): 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
For at least 150 years, changes in agricultural processes have reflected developments in
food manufacturing and the rise in commercial prepackaged foods. In addition, crop yields have
been enhanced by the introduction of chemical fertilizers, which artificially boost soil nutrients
while potentially endangering the safety of any crops on which these chemicals are applied.
These chemicals can also contaminate food in other ways that are more difficult to detect.
Agricultural runoff, a term for water, usually rain, that falls on fields that have been sprayed with
fertilizers or insecticides and then runs off into streams and lakes, sometimes on the surface of
the ground and sometimes underground. This article is relevant to my research because it
explains what has happened to food manufacturing over the years.