Nature' is Not Guilty

Foodborne Illness and the Industrial Bagged Salad

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4445674
AutoresDiana Stuart (0000-0003-1479-2208, Kellogg's (Canada), autor de correspondencia)
Año2011
Volumen51
Número2
Páginas158-174
Fecha de publicación2011-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociologia Ruralis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0199 • E-ISSN: 1467-9523
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9523.2010.00528.x
OpenAlexW1679310304
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas60

Increasing incidents of widespread foodborne illness continue to highlight problems with industrialised food production. These problems emerge as a result of complicated interactions between humans and non-humans in food production networks. This article combines actor-network theory and political economy to critically examine foodborne illness, focusing on outbreaks related to industrially produced bagged salads from California. The article explores the evolution of the bagged salad, the emergence ofEscherichia coliO157:H7, howE. coliO157:H7 enters the salad production network and the responses of industrial actors. While many continue to blame external nature for foodborne illness, doing so overlooks the fact that outbreaks are co-produced by humans and non-humans. Profit-driven industrial production designs play an important role in the emergence and spread of pathogens. While efforts to address outbreaks focus on controlling non-humans and adopting new technological fixes, effectively minimising foodborne illness may require a reevaluation of high-volume and centralised production systems

Biology · Blame · Business · Economics · Food processing · Food safety · Industrial production · Outbreak · Production (economics) · Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology · Food Science · Medicine · Organic Food and Agriculture · Prion Diseases and Protein Misfolding