|
|
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Is Your Drinking Water Safe? “Maybe Not!” Says Susan McKnight. Northbrook, Ill. (AUGUST 20, 2002)—Writing in the June 2002 issue of Dairy, Food, and Environmental Sanitation, Susan McKnight says that although the role water quality plays in food safety has been seriously underestimated in the past, it is emerging as a critical public health issue. According to Ms. McKnight, a certified water specialist and vice president of Northbrook, Ill.-based Quality Flow, Inc., “water is an important food ingredient that is used throughout the farm-to-table chain, yet the role that it plays in food safety has been missing from most food safety discussions.” Citing statistics that show 17 water-borne disease outbreaks in 1997–1998 that were traced to public water supplies in 13 states, she says, “it is a mistake to believe that waterborne diseases are a problem only in underdeveloped countries with poor sanitary systems,” adding that the EPA ranks water pollution as one of the top four environmental threats to health in the U.S. Although water supplies should be routinely monitored for such well-known contaminants as E. coli, waterborne outbreaks of this harmful bacteria have recently occurred in both the U.S. and Canada. Other contaminants such as lead, copper, MTBE, and arsenic can pose serious health risks as well. Ms. McKnight says flatly, “The quality of a water supply should not be taken as a given in any part of the food chain,” and calls for new, tougher water-monitoring and –screening standards to be adopted. Recently appointed to a two-year term as chair of a new Professional Development Group on “Water Quality and Safety” for the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), Ms. McKnight says the group’s purpose is to raise awareness of water quality from that of a “stealth” ingredient to that of any other critically monitored food ingredient. Founded in 1984, Quality Flow, Inc. provides expertise to assure safe water and water treatmentto some of the world’s leading names in the food and beverage service industry, from suppliers of restaurant beverages and beverage-making equipment to internationally famous franchises in the food industry. The company is a member of the Water Quality Association, National Restaurant Association, International Association of Food Protection, and The American Waterworks Association.
For More Information Contact: |
|
|
