I thought terrorists around the world were the only biggest problem we have. After reading this article and case studies, I realized that we have even more serious problems with food industries. The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of communication in crisis and risk communication because of foodborne illness outbreaks. An estimate of 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur annually in the United States alone. Approximately 325,000 are so severe that they must be hospitalized and 5,000 people die due to foodborne illnesses every year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005). Terrorism or terrorists will never take this much life each year. Almost Everyone is involved when there is a food borne outbreak and it is
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Once organizations or food industries accept total responsibility for everything that happens during a crisis, they will discover that it empowers them to find solutions to foodborne outbreaks far more quickly. Using the case of Schwan’s Salmonella crisis in 1995 in McIntyre (2005). When the Minnesota Department of Health noticed that the increase of salmonella enteritidis infections was related to Schwan’s ice cream company’s, they immediately notified Schwan’s company and the public about the outbreak. Minnesota Department of Health also warned the public to stop consuming any ice cream from Schwan’s company. Schwan’s company calls a press conference and took responsibility immediately for the Salmonella outbreak. “his company had not been ordered by any health agency to recall its products, but that production had stopped and all the company’s ice cream would be held back” (Blackwood, 1994). Accepting responsibility and taking further actions to control the spread of outbreaks as the company did was very important and should serve as a learning experience for the future. Not taking responsibility will create more problems and bigger crises. The example of Jack in the Box and Foodmaker Inc in January 1993, not taking responsibility about the origin of E. coli in their meat caused the pre-crisis phase to last for over a decade (Littlefield,
Once organizations or food industries accept total responsibility for everything that happens during a crisis, they will discover that it empowers them to find solutions to foodborne outbreaks far more quickly. Using the case of Schwan’s Salmonella crisis in 1995 in McIntyre (2005). When the Minnesota Department of Health noticed that the increase of salmonella enteritidis infections was related to Schwan’s ice cream company’s, they immediately notified Schwan’s company and the public about the outbreak. Minnesota Department of Health also warned the public to stop consuming any ice cream from Schwan’s company. Schwan’s company calls a press conference and took responsibility immediately for the Salmonella outbreak. “his company had not been ordered by any health agency to recall its products, but that production had stopped and all the company’s ice cream would be held back” (Blackwood, 1994). Accepting responsibility and taking further actions to control the spread of outbreaks as the company did was very important and should serve as a learning experience for the future. Not taking responsibility will create more problems and bigger crises. The example of Jack in the Box and Foodmaker Inc in January 1993, not taking responsibility about the origin of E. coli in their meat caused the pre-crisis phase to last for over a decade (Littlefield,