Import Food And Public Health Essay

The fact that the movement of people, food, and manufactured goods can have a negative impact on public health does not necessarily mean that their movements should be restricted at all times and in all circumstances. People who have highly contagious diseases and know that they have such diseases, especially when the disease is airborne, for example should be willing to restrict their travel until the danger of contagion has passed. If they are not willing, restricting their travel across international borders especially, should probably be enforced. The trade of food should be restricted in the event that the food is contaminated until it can be proven that the danger has passed. Imported foods allow people frigid or temperate climates to have easier access to fresh produce year round (The Levin Institute, n.d.). This has an over all positive effect of health. Manufactured goods should not have a direct effect on public health, but while the policies that allow the trade of goods may have a positive impact
The first measure that should be taken would be enacting adequate international safety and sanitation standards for the production of food. There should also be some form of oversight to make sure that the standards are met. Something as simple as requiring sick workers to stay home, hopefully with pay, would be helpful. Monitoring the environments that various livestock animals are kept in and the food that they are fed would help reduce the risk of illnesses that the animals could contract by living in cramped and filthy conditions. Secondly, appropriate responses to an outbreak of food-borne illness should be taken as quickly as possible after it has been identified. This will help limit the spread of the food-borne illness in the