april 11, 2008 “who’s minding the store? the current state of food safety and how it can be...
TRANSCRIPT
April 11, 2008
“Who’s Minding the Store? The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved”
Conference sponsored by Marler Clark and Stoel Rives and presented by Seattle University School
of Law.
Dr. Richard A. RaymondUnder Secretary for Food SafetyU.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
The Food Safety and Inspection Service’s mission is to ensure that meat, poultry, and
processed egg products distributed in commerce for use as human food are safe,
wholesome and accurately labeled.
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
• The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906,
• The Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957,
• The Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970, and
• The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958.
FSIS performs its food safety, public health and food defense activities under four main acts:
Statutory Authority
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Who Handles What?
Food and Drug Administration
Food Safety and Inspection Service
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Hallmark/Westland and the Downer Rule
• Downer Rule went into effect in 2004 – 2 Conditions:
• Under certain rare inspections
• Animal acute injury
• Cattle were unfit, not unsafe
• Recall not about food safety, but about a regulatory violation
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Interlocking System of Controlsto Protect the Food Supply
• 1997 Feed Ban by FDA
• 2004 Prohibition of Specified Risk Materials and non-ambulatory cattle
• Ante-mortem inspection by FSIS veterinarians
• Surveillance program and testing
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli O157:H7
• Very successful meeting with more than 200 attendees
• Bold proposals
• Rally the industry to combat E. coli O157:H7
• Upcoming meeting: May 15-16; St. Louis, MO, on outbreak investigations and response
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
FSIS and Import Safety
• FSIS has a strong system in place to ensure the imported products we regulate are just as safe as products produced in the U.S.
• FSIS regulated imports have remained stable and more full time employees and Import Surveillance Liaison Officers to handle the imports
• Increased from 36,000 pounds of product set aside to over 2.1 million pounds.
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
FSIS ensures the safety of imported products by:
• Determining the equivalence of foreign countries’ food regulatory systems to ensure that they provide the same level of protection as that of the United States;
• Having ongoing equivalence verified through periodic audits in the foreign country; and
• Conducting the re-inspection of meat, poultry and egg
products at U.S. ports of entry.
FSIS and Imported Meat and Poultry Products
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Listeria monocytogenes
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Listeriamonocytogenes
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Listeria monocytogenes
1996-2006 FoodNet Foodborne Illness Incidence Data
(Cases per 100,000 persons)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Listeria Monocytogenes
Healthy People 2010 Goal
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
Results of Broiler Carcasses Analyzed for Salmonella from 2001 to 2005
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
Jan -Mar 06
Apr -Jun 06
Jul - Sep06
Oct -Dec 06
Jan -Mar 07
Apr -Jun 07
Jul - Sep07
Oct -Dec 07
Results of Broiler Carcasses Analyzed by Quarter for Salmonella
from January 2006 to December 2007
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3
2006
2007
Plant Categories based on Broiler Carcasses Analyzed for Salmonella
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
E. coli O157:H7
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli O157:H7
1996-2006 FoodNet Foodborne Illness Incidence Data
(Cases per 100,000 persons)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
E. coli O157:H7
Healthy People 2010 Goal
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli Recall and Illness Data
• 200221 recalls, 2 with reported illness
• 200312 recalls, 5 with reported illness
• 20046 recalls, 3 with reported illness
• 20055 recalls, 4 with reported illness
• 20068 recalls, 0 with reported illness
• 200721 recalls, 10 with reported illness
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Changes We Support
• Common Sense Goals:
– Implementing Public Health/Risk Based Inspection • putting inspectors where they are most needed.
– Releasing the names of the stores that have sold recalled products to consumers.
– Creating a practical solution to how we handle E. coli positive boxed beef and carcasses.
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
Changes We Oppose
• Mandatory Recall Authority
• Single Food Safety Agency
United States Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection Service
• The state of public health is constantly evolving, and we can’t allow ourselves to stagnate. I’ve often said it’s like riding a bicycle; if you’re not moving forward you’re going to fall down.