The Cause and Effact of Unclean Fast Food Restaurants

April 21, 2007


The Causes and Effect of Unclean Fast Food Restaurants
When you take a bite out of a fast food hamburger, do you ever stop to think about what has gone into the preparation of it? Most people don’t think about how clean restaurants are because the food tastes good, usually on the out side it appears to be clean. However, the truth is that almost all fast food restaurants are not. According to a New York Times article by Ray Rivera “… most fast food restaurants have more than five critical violations.” Almost all of these critical violations you do not see. Critical violations are the most dangerous ones to our health. Dirty restaurants are caused by inadequate laws and regulations and the consequences are resulting in serious illnesse
Millions of people go to fast food restaurants every day and never get sick, while for the ten thousand out of the million that do get sick or find some horrifying object in their food, they never forget it. For example according to an article on MSNBSC.com, after Gianni Velotta eat at a Colorado K.F.C., he was infected with a deadly form of the salmonella bacteria, he almost died. His mother Natalie Velotta says, “If I would have known that they had several health violations, I would not have eaten there.” Other examples of less extreme cases are, “In a Wendy’s in Chicago, inspectors found dead rodent decomposing on a rat trap. At a California Taco Bell, some one bit into a taco, only to find chewing gum. An inspector in Texas found a worm in a Wendy’s salad. The list goes on, such as cockroach in some one’s soda.” Although these types of things do not happen to everyone, they happen more than they should.
Something we don’t usually talk about much, is what our Food and Drug Administration is doing about the health problems found in our fast food restaurants. The food and drug administration says that the problem is caused by a lack of inspectors; they only have enough inspectors to examine restaurants every sixteen months. People have debated that, saying that this it is the law that the F.D.A has in place. Other people question why health inspectors give restaurants a passing grade when clearly there are major health violations. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said “the city’s failure to immediately shut the Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell after learning of the rat problem was unacceptable,” the inspector who conducted the review was suspended. It was also found that health inspectors in Utah “do not inspect eateries as often as mandated by state,” tight budgets that prevent the hiring of enough inspectors are blamed, according to an article in the Dessert Morning News.
As a result of the apathetic regulations of the FDA and governing fast food restaurants, more people will get seriously sick if these regulations are not changed. According to an article from Pagewise, written by Vanessa Zanella “fast food is convenient but not always clean. Every establishment should go above and beyond the norm to ensure that food is properly handled.” The average person does not know if a restaurant has failed inspection, unless you request that information through state-open record laws. In order to make restaurants more responsible I think there should be a law that allows restaurants grades to be posted in the restaurants so customers will be informed. The responsibility lies both with the consumers and the restaurants. I think more heavily with the restaurants since customers are not only paying for their meal but for their service.


Bibliography
1. “Associated Press”, Wasingtontimes.com, March 9, 2007
2. Davidson, Lee. “How Clean is Your Fast Food Restaurant?” Redorbit.com March 9, 2007
3. “Dirty Dining?” msnbc.com, March 9, 2007
4. “Officials Say More Inspectors Need to Keep Restaurants Clean” nbc10.com, March 9, 2007
5. Horovitz, Bruce. “More Americans Clean Their Plates of ‘bad’ food” usatoday.com, March 9,2007
6. Rivera, Ray. “13 More Food Restaurants Are Shut Down After Rat Video” March 9, 2007
7. Silver, Caleb. “Taco Bell Rats Are Stars For A Day” cnnmoney.com, March 9, 2007
8. Thompson, Lea. “Dirty Dining: Fast Food Chain” msnbc.com, March, 9 2007
9. Zanella, Vanessa. “How Clean is Your Fast Food Restaurants?” iaia.essortment.com, March
9, 2007