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National Food Safety Initiative Announced
by Karen Kandra
On January 25, 1997, President Clinton announced a new initiative to improve the safety of the nation's food supply. The President announced he would request $43.2 million in his 1998 budget to fund a nationwide early-warning system for foodborne illness, enhance seafood safety inspections, and expand food safety research, risk assessment, training, and education. President Clinton also directed the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to work with consumers, producers, industry, States, universities, and the public sector to identify additional ways to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness and to ensure our food supply is the safest in the world.
Six agencies in the Federal government have primary responsibility for food safety: two agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) -- the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); three agencies under the Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Recently USDA, FDA, CDC, and EPA have worked together to build consensus and to identify opportunities to better utilize their collective resources and scientific expertise, and to strengthen partnerships with private organizations. As directed by the President, these agencies have now developed a strategy to improve systems of coordination, surveillance, inspections, research, risk assessment, and education.
It is estimated that foodborne illness causes as many as 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. Several population groups such as persons with lowered immunity due to HIV/AIDS and those on medications for cancer treatment or organ transplantation, as well as pregnant women, young children, and the elderly have increased susceptibility to foodborne infections. Patients taking antibiotics or antacids are also at greater risk of infections from some pathogens. The consequences of foodborne disease are particularly serious for those with inadequate access to health care, such as homeless people, migrant farm workers, and others of low socioeconomic status.
Sources of Foodborne Contamination
Bacteria and other infectious organisms are pervasive in the environment.
Salmonella serotype Enteritidis enters eggs directly from the hen.
Bacteria (occasionally pathogenic) inhabit the surfaces of fruits and vegetables.
Molds and their toxic byproducts can develop in grains during unusually wet or dry growing seasons, damage and stress during harvesting, or during improper storage.
Seafood can become contaminated from agricultural animal manures and wastes and other runoff, as well as by sewage, microorganisms, and toxins present in marine environments.
Many organisms that cause foodborne illness in humans can be part of the normal flora of the gastrointestinal tract of food-producing animals without adverse effects to the animals.
Milk, eggs, seafood, poultry, and meat can become contaminated from contaminated feed, misuse of veterinary drugs, or poor farming practices, in particular, mismanagement of animal manures, including production harvesting activities.
Foods can become contaminated during processing due to malfunctioning or improperly sanitized equipment, misuse of cleaning materials, rodent and insect infestations, and improper storage.
Foods can become contaminated in retail facilities and in homes through food-handling practices.
Foodborne infections can result in very serious immediate consequences, such as spontaneous abortion, as well as long-lasting conditions, such as reactive arthritis, Guillain-Barre syndrome (the most common cause of acute paralysis in adults and children), and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure and death. Some of the microbial pathogens that have been the source of foodborne illness cases and outbreaks recently include, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Vibrio, Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium parvum, Norwalk virus, and hepatitis A. In addition, naturally occurring mycotoxins and marine toxins may contaminate foods and cause foodborne illness.
The Food Safety System
The current system for protecting food is a complex and diverse system based on regulatory authority divided among Federal, State, and local governments. The system cannot properly identify, track, and control food-related illness, or prevent future cases from occurring. In 1981, FDA inspected food firms every 2-3 years, but can now only visit those firms on average, once every 10 years (although some plants that produce higher-risk foods may be inspected more frequently). The Clinton Administration has taken the following steps to improve the safety of the food supply:
In 1993, the Vice President's National Performance Review recommended that Government and industry should move toward a system of preventive controls.
FSIS and FDA issued regulations that will require the meat, poultry, and seafood industries to follow HACCP procedures to require food industries to design and implement preventive measures and increase the industries' responsibility control of their safety-assurance actions.
In 1994, CDC embarked upon a strategic program to detect, prevent, and control emerging infectious disease threats, some of which are foodborne.
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, including many provisions of the Administration's bill, streamlined regulation of pesticides by FDA and EPA.
Last year, the President signed the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996, which includes regulatory improvements to help States and water-utility managers prevent drinking water contamination problems.
These advances are significant, but they are not enough. New pathogens, new food products, huge increases in imported foods, the growing importance of food exports, and increasing antimicrobial resistance among foodborne pathogens present new challenges to the nation's food safety programs.
Under this new initiative, the Federal government, in concert with State and local governments, industry and academia, would conduct research and risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses to determine how foodborne illnesses occur and can be controlled in the most efficient and cost-effective manner; improve surveillance and investigative efforts to locate and monitor illnesses caused by food; achieve more effective and efficient monitoring of the safety of the food supply through inspections of food processors; and reinvigorate education of all those involved in food preparation focusing on the use of safe practices.
