House Republicans just voted to defund our only protection against E-Coli – a disease that is contracted by eating contaminated foods like fruits and vegetables. The Microbiological Data Program was responsible for the screening and testing of these food products, but Republicans have voted to shut it down.
The House last month approved a bill that would end funding for the 10-year-old Microbiological Data Program, which tests about 15,000 annual samples of vulnerable produce such as sprouts, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cantaloupe and cilantro for pathogens including salmonella and E. coli
Defunding this agency makes it more possible for Corporations to cut corners in the food preparations industries, thus, increasing the likelihood that more contaminated produce will be served on our tables.
At a time when “48 million foodborne illness cases occur in the United States every year,” and “at least 128,000 Americans are hospitalized, and 3,000 die after eating contaminated food,” the Republican controlled House of Representatives’ decision to defund this important food screening agency is just another example of the Republican motto: “Corporations Over The American People”.
