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According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), foodborne diseases cause an estimated 3,000 deaths, and 128,000 hospitalizations each year. While living in the United States people often assume our food industry is one of the safest globally. Unfortunately, this is a misconception made clear within the Netflix documentary, “Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food.”

Directed by Stephine Soechtig, this new film almost brings a sobering effect to its viewers. Filmmaker Soechtig also commented on America’s obesity epidemic in a documentary titled, “Fed Up” (2014), and now Soechtig, with the help of narrative journalist Jeff Benedict’s book, brought an analytical and reporting-based story about another system that places profit over public health and longevity.

“Poisoned” is a call to action for those in power to right wrongs committed by the negligence of food regulators, as well as a gut-wrenching reality check for consumers. The documentary opens with a rush of information and commentary from Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer working with victims for the past 30 years.

It is not uncommon for people to gravitate to common items viewed as healthy, such as, eggs, cut fruit, strawberries, tomatoes and more. However, Marler commented that these may be the riskiest items and section of the grocery store, due to their likelihood of contamination.

The CDC provides updates on pathogens and unsuspected agents that are the known contaminates of food. For example, E. coli and salmonella, two household names due to past outbreaks like the E. coli outbreak in the state of Washington in 1992-1993 now referred to as the ‘Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak.’  This outbreak was the largest foodborne illness outbreak in the U.S. and started to roll the ball on some of the first regulations for food safety. The Seattle Times reported early 2023 on this outbreak and talked to Marler about his career. “Poisoned” also touched on the outbreak and the impacts it had.

In the Seattle Times Marler mentioned he “never expected to build a career out of bad food,” but through his work during several outbreaks became a front facing lawyer. Marler and his colleagues’ work during the Jack in the Box outbreak, won about 50 million in damages for nearly 200 victims.

The nightmare is not over. Despite progress in the meat industry from the Jack in the Box outbreak E. coli contamination is not partial to meat. In 2018, romaine lettuce and leafy greens became the new poster child for E. coli contamination.

“Poisoned” highlights Stephanie Ingberg’s story. She was an athletic 17-year-old girl going on vacation for spring break. While in the Dominican Republic, Ingberg began to feel symptoms from lettuce she ate back home before leaving. Her condition rapidly declined and later it was found that the romaine lettuce that got her sick came from Yuma, Arizona where canal irrigation systems also run past animal waste lots. Therefore, it is likely that animals with E. coli contaminated irrigation systems by proximity.

Ingberg’s health continued to decline, and doctors originally suspected her to have only hours left to live after being transported home from vacation. However, she beat the odds and regained consciousness the day doctors told her parents she might not survive the night. The bitter truth is that Ingberg, as reported by an interview with the Cinemaholic, may have to be on dialysis the rest of her life due the state of her kidneys.

After the first third of the film only using victim testimony to narrate outbreaks, Soechtig goes on to put USDA and FDA officials in the hot seat, making known the underlying nightmare of the long-lasting struggle between public health and corporate greed. She makes laughable credibility of the U.S. has the the claim that ‘safest food supply in the world’ as heard over and over in Soechtig’s introduction of the film.

Stories such as Ingberg’s showcases how important it is for everyone, including young healthy adults, to stay aware, despite policies and regulations existing.

Ingberg was only 17 when eating one thing derailed and changed her whole life.

There are many ways to keep up to date on food recalls and pathogen outbreaks. Camrey Cavan, a student athlete and junior Marketing major at Grand View University, stays connected through digital media.

“Probably the internet,” Cavan said, other ways Cavan stays aware is by reading the labels and looking out for nutritional information of products.

There are platforms that keep up to date records of food recalls and pathogen specific contamination trends. Although Cavan is not actively seeking out information, he is practicing information consumption in the most traditional way, which is by word of mouth and exposure through those around him.

Some people take a more active approach to stay up to date on food recalls and nutritional values of the things they consume. Owen Bragungardt is a student athlete on track to finish his Master’s in Organizational Leadership at GVU in the Spring of 2024. Bragungardt got his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and works with the 1st Phorm nutrition company. He plans to become a sports nutritionist after graduation and is wrestling for GVU.

“It starts with having a baseline curiosity,” Bragungardt said, while talking about how he stays aware. His experiences have led him to work and strive to work in nutrition.

While wrestling is rigorous regarding nutrition and weight classes, GVU’s wrestling team introduces their athletes to the 20/30 rule. This is a look at total carbs and sugars on the label. If sugars are 20 precent or less of the total carbs, consumers can judge if the carb is valued as a good carb or not. Bragungadt follows specific rules he uses personally and said that his experiences have ignited his interest and curiosity with staying nutritionally aware of what he is consuming.

“You’re using your entire body for at least seven minutes at a full force effort,” Bragungardt mentioned when speaking on how keeping a good diet impacts athlete performance in wrestling.

“I did not know too much about nutrition until I got to Grand View,” Bragungardt said when reflecting on how the wrestling team has a partnership with Joey Boyens’ Ekin Nutrition. Bragungardt mentioned how Boyens comes and meets with the team and how this spiked his curiosity and interest to learn more about nutrition.

“What does not get measured does not get results,” Bragungardt said. His work with 1st Phorm allows Bragungardt to help coach people in building habits and achieving their goals. When starting clients off, Bragungardt first asks them to give information on what some of their typical diet entails, and then provides insight on the good or bad products.

However, this is not to say that staying more aware of food recalls and pathogen outbreaks means rerouting your whole diet. People can still use the motto of “small steps to make a habit,” as Bragungardt said to build new practices of being nutritionally aware.