action plans and procedures to make
them more effective.
FDA considers it critical that food
safety and food defense be integrated to
ensure the most efficient use of resources
and respond most efficiently to any kind
of emergency or important public health
issue. FDA has been listening to industry
as it develops these programs, because if
the programs aren’t easy to understand
and use, the front-line “eyes and ears”
won’t use them.
“…food defense describes activities associated
with protecting the nation’s food supply from
intentional contamination.”
Regulatory Guidance
In 2003, FDA published Food Security Guidance documents that were designed for specific segments of the food
industry. After sharing these documents
with industry, FDA understood that the
message wasn’t actually connecting with
the people who needed to heed it most:
the managers and employees. FDA developed a shorter, more user-friendly
way to deliver the food defense message.
It was called ALERT, and key information was transferred to a wallet-size card
that could be easily distributed.
The ALERT message provides food
defense information that can be used at
any point in the food supply chain. It
was launched in a partnership with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USDA, and state and local
organizations. ALERT provides a starting point for businesses to develop continuous improvement programs for food
safety and food defense and gives management five areas to think about in developing such programs:
A – How do you Assure supplies and
ingredients are safe and secure?
L – How do you Look after the security of the products and ingredients in
your facility?
E – What do you know about your
Employees and people coming in and
out of your facility?
R – Could you Report on the security of your products while they are
under your control?
T – What do you do and who do you
notify if you have a Threat or an issue at
your facility?
The success of ALERT led to discussions between private industry and government regarding the need to directly
involve not just management and busi-
ness owners, but all employees, in food
defense efforts. In 2007, USDA, CDC,
representatives of state and local public
health organizations, and industry associations weighed in on the content of
what has become the second phase of
the ALERT program: Employees FIRST.
FDA found that while employees
were aware of food safety rules, food defense awareness was not as high. The
program is designed for anyone who
handles food, steps onto the production
floor while food is being processed, or is
involved in making a food product. As
with the ALERT Initiative, FIRST provides simple instructions for employees
to incorporate into their daily duties,
complementing their food safety knowledge and practices:
F – Follow your company’s food defense plan and procedures
I – Inspect your work area and surrounding areas
R – Recognize anything out of the
ordinary
S – Secure all ingredients, supplies
and finished product
T – Tell management if you notice
anything unusual or suspicious
FDA heard from employers that the
materials being developed for food defense awareness should be easy to understand and concise to hold the
employees’ attention and increase retention. As a result, the Employees FIRST
tool kit includes an entertaining, 12-
minute DVD and a 4-color poster that
can be displayed in employee work areas
to reinforce the messages.
In the first two weeks of the program’s rollout, FDA received more than
1,300 requests for the materials. FDA
continues to hear from industry on
needed refinements to the program and
has discovered there is a greater need
than originally thought to refine the program for small to medium-size businesses. One of the areas of interest was a
guidance document to help them de-
velop a food defense plan customized
for them—a blueprint for businesses that
may not have the time or resources to
develop a plan on their own. Work on
that project is currently under way.
After rolling out the original English
and Spanish versions, FDA also received
many requests for the information in
even more languages. In late 2009, FDA-expects to have the Employees FIRST
program available in Chinese, Korean,
Japanese, and French. Also in 2009,
FDA expects to provide materials at several large conferences and will continue
to utilize FDA field staff to accomplish
outreach and awareness for food defense
in communities all over the country.
In today’s global economy, awareness
and preparedness in the area of food defense is more crucial than ever. The responsibility for protecting our food
supply against intentional contamination is everyone’s. Being aware of the
threat and, more importantly, knowing
how to react if a threat becomes reality
will make the difference between prevention and catastrophe.
FDA continues to work with its state,
local, tribal, and industry partners to
help refine and reinforce food defense
messages and to develop additional
measures to communicate with managers and employees who handle food at
any point from the farm to the dinner
table. The Employees FIRST Initiative
will continue to respond to the changing
needs of those whose “eyes and ears” are
the true front line of food defense in our
country every day.
Sue Challis is a member of the Education
Team at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) in College
Park, MD.
Marion Allen is a Consumer Safety Officer with CFSAN’s Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency
Response, and a member of the Food Defense Oversight Team.
