identify opportunities for innovation
and improvement (Figure 1).
Modernization of Food Safety
Oversight
According to The White House Blog
( www.whitehouse.gov/blog), foodborne
illness strikes 48 million Americans each
year, hospitalizing 100,000 and killing
thousands. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) builds a new system of
food safety oversight, one that is focused
on applying, more comprehensively
than before, the best available science
and good common sense to prevent the
problems that can make people sick.
The idea of prevention is not new.
What is new is the recognition that for
all the strengths of the American food
system, a breakdown at any point on the
farm-to-table spectrum could harm the
health of consumers, as well as cause disruption and economic loss to the food
industry.
In terms of the FSMA, processors of
all types of food will now be required to
evaluate the hazards in their operations,
implement and monitor effective measures to prevent contamination and have
a plan in place to take any necessary corrective actions. Additionally, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
will have much more effective enforcement tools for ensuring those plans are
adequate and properly implemented, including mandatory recall authority when
needed to swiftly remove contaminated
food from the market.
Moreover, with the signing of the law,
FDA for the first time will have a congressional mandate for risk-based inspection of food processing facilities. For
example, all high-risk domestic facilities
must be inspected within 5 years of enactment and no less than every 3 years
thereafter. The legislation significantly
enhances FDA’s ability to oversee the
millions of food products coming into
the United States from other countries
each year.
Very importantly, the FSMA calls for
the strengthening of existing collabora-
tion among all food safety agencies,
whether federal, state, local, territorial,
tribal or foreign. Among other provi-
sions, the legislation directs the secretary
of Health and Human Services to im-
prove training of state, local, territorial
and tribal food safety officials and au-
thorizes grants for training, conducting
inspections, building capacity of labs
and food safety programs and other
food safety activities. Building and lever-
aging the capacity of these food safety
partners is how a well-integrated national
food safety system can be developed
that is as effective and efficient as it
can be.
Dairy’s Focus on Food Safety
The dairy industry takes food safety
very seriously. Throughout the years,
dairy farmers and processors have
worked closely with FDA and state regulatory officials to establish safety regulations and practices. For example, the
federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance is a
set of requirements for milk production,
milk hauling, pasteurization, product
safety, equipment sanitation and labeling. It is one of the most effective tools
to ensure the safety of milk. It is very effective; today, less than 1 percent of
foodborne illness outbreaks in the
United States involve dairy products.
Another example is the Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Points system, a structured and scientific process
used throughout the food industry to
help ensure food safety. Processing
plants identify critical steps throughout
the manufacturing process and establish
plans to monitor and minimize any
risks.
The Innovation Center’s FSOC is
taking this commitment to food safety
to the next level. In line with the
FSMA’s focus on applying comprehensive food safety oversight measures, the
committee has developed an education
and training program for controlling
pathogens within dairy processing
plants. The program aims to help prevent food safety recalls that could compromise the reputation of the industry
by providing processors and suppliers
with knowledge and applications of food
safety best practices they can implement
to reduce the risk of an incident.
Parallel to the training launch, the
committee is establishing work teams to
1) adapt the training for the supply
chain, 2) strengthen voluntary internal
audits to a common standard and link to
