Download or read book Oversight of Food Safety Activities written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GAO has documented many problems resulting from the fragmented nature of the federal food safety system and recommended fundamental restructuring to ensure the effective use of scarce government resources. In this report, GAO (1) identified overlaps in food safety activities at USDA, FDA, EPA, and NMFS; (2) analyzed the extent to which the agencies use interagency agreements to leverage resources; and (3) obtained the views of stakeholders. Several statutes give responsibility for different segments of the food supply to different agencies to ensure that the food supply is safe. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have the primary responsibility for regulating food safety, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also involved. In carrying out their responsibilities, with respect to both domestic and imported food, these agencies spend resources on a number of overlapping activities, such as inspection/enforcement, training, research, or rulemaking. For example, both USDA and FDA conduct similar inspections at 1,451 dual jurisdiction establishments--facilities that produce foods regulated by both agencies. Under authority granted by the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, FDA could authorize USDA inspectors to inspect these facilities, but it has not done so. Furthermore, USDA and FDA maintain separate training programs on similar topics for their inspectors that could be shared. Ultimately, inspection and training resources could be used more efficiently. GAO identified 71 interagency agreements that the agencies entered into to better protect public health and to coordinate their food safety activities. However, the agencies have weak mechanisms for tracking these agreements that, in some cases, lead to ineffective implementation. Specifically, USDA and FDA are not fully implementing an agreement to facilitate the exchange of information about dual jurisdiction establishments, which both agencies inspect. In addition, FDA and NMFS are not implementing an agreement designed to enable each agency to discharge its seafood responsibilities effectively. GAO spoke with selected industry associations, food companies, consumer groups, and academic experts, and they disagree on the extent of overlap and on how best to improve the food safety system. Most of these stakeholders agreed that laws and regulations should be modernized to more effectively and efficiently control food safety hazards, but they differed about whether to consolidate food safety functions into a single agency.
Download or read book Ensuring Safe Food written by Committee to Ensure Safe Food from Production to Consumption and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-09-02 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How safe is our food supply? Each year the media report what appears to be growing concern related to illness caused by the food consumed by Americans. These food borne illnesses are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, and food additives. Recent actions taken at the federal, state, and local levels in response to the increase in reported incidences of food borne illnesses point to the need to evaluate the food safety system in the United States. This book assesses the effectiveness of the current food safety system and provides recommendations on changes needed to ensure an effective science-based food safety system. Ensuring Safe Food discusses such important issues as: What are the primary hazards associated with the food supply? What gaps exist in the current system for ensuring a safe food supply? What effects do trends in food consumption have on food safety? What is the impact of food preparation and handling practices in the home, in food services, or in production operations on the risk of food borne illnesses? What organizational changes in responsibility or oversight could be made to increase the effectiveness of the food safety system in the United States? Current concerns associated with microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards in the food supply are discussed. The book also considers how changes in technology and food processing might introduce new risks. Recommendations are made on steps for developing a coordinated, unified system for food safety. The book also highlights areas that need additional study. Ensuring Safe Food will be important for policymakers, food trade professionals, food producers, food processors, food researchers, public health professionals, and consumers.
Download or read book Gao 05 213 Oversight of Food Safety Activities written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GAO-05-213, OVERSIGHT OF FOOD SAFETY ACTIVITIES: Federal Agencies Should Pursue Opportunities to Reduce Overlap and Better Leverage Resources
Download or read book Enhancing Food Safety written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-11-04 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent outbreaks of illnesses traced to contaminated sprouts and lettuce illustrate the holes that exist in the system for monitoring problems and preventing foodborne diseases. Although it is not solely responsible for ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees monitoring and intervention for 80 percent of the food supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's abilities to discover potential threats to food safety and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness are hampered by impediments to efficient use of its limited resources and a piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks. Enhancing Food Safety: The Role of the Food and Drug Administration, a new book from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, responds to a congressional request for recommendations on how to close gaps in FDA's food safety systems. Enhancing Food Safety begins with a brief review of the Food Protection Plan (FPP), FDA's food safety philosophy developed in 2007. The lack of sufficient detail and specific strategies in the FPP renders it ineffectual. The book stresses the need for FPP to evolve and be supported by the type of strategic planning described in these pages. It also explores the development and implementation of a stronger, more effective food safety system built on a risk-based approach to food safety management. Conclusions and recommendations include adopting a risk-based decision-making approach to food safety; creating a data surveillance and research infrastructure; integrating federal, state, and local government food safety programs; enhancing efficiency of inspections; and more. Although food safety is the responsibility of everyone, from producers to consumers, the FDA and other regulatory agencies have an essential role. In many instances, the FDA must carry out this responsibility against a backdrop of multiple stakeholder interests, inadequate resources, and competing priorities. Of interest to the food production industry, consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals, and others, Enhancing Food Safety provides the FDA and Congress with a course of action that will enable the agency to become more efficient and effective in carrying out its food safety mission in a rapidly changing world.
Download or read book Federal Oversight of Food Safety High Risk Designation Can Bring Needed Attention to Fragmented System written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Food Safety and Security written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Federal Food Safety Oversight written by Lisa Shames and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a decade, reports have been issued on the fragmented nature of federal food safety oversight and how it results in inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient use of resources. In March 2009, the Pres. established the Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) to coordinate federal efforts and establish food safety goals to make food safer. This report identifies programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities. It examines: (1) steps, if any, that the FSWG has taken to increase collaboration among federal food safety agencies; and (2) options that have been identified to reduce fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in food safety oversight. illustrations. This is a print on demand report.
Download or read book Investigation Into Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS Inspection Activities written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Federal Oversight of Food Safety written by Lisa Shames and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2009-02 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of 80% of the U.S. food supply, incl. both domestic and imported food. Changing demographics and consumption patterns along with an increase in imports have presented challenges to FDA. Recent outbreaks, such as ¿E. coli¿ from spinach and ¿Salmonella¿ from tomatoes, have undermined consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply. In Nov. 07, FDA released its ¿Food Protection Plan¿ and noted that more specific info. about the strategies and resources needed to implement the plan would follow. This testimony focuses on: (1) FDA¿s progress in implementing the Plan; (2) FDA¿s proposal to focus inspections based on risk; and (3) FDA¿s implementation of previously issued recommendations. Tables.
Download or read book Federal Oversight of Food Safety FDA s Food Protection Plan Proposes Positive First Steps But Capacity to Carry Them Out Is Critical written by Lisa Shames and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-05 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of 80% of the U.S. food supply, including $417 billion worth of domestic food & $49 billion in imported food annually. Recent outbreaks caused by food contamination highlight the risks posed by the accidental contamination of FDA-regulated food products. Changing demographics & consumption patterns underscore the urgency for effective food safety oversight. In Nov. 2007, FDA released plans that discuss the oversight of food safety. This testimony focuses on: fed. oversight of food safety as a high-risk area that needs a governmentwide reexamination; FDA¿S opportunities to better leverage its resources; FDA¿s ¿Food Protection Plan,¿ & tools that can help agencies to address mgmt. challenges. Illus.
Download or read book Food Safety written by Lisa Shames and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, both domestic and imported produce have been linked to reported outbreaks of foodborne illness. Contamination in produce is of particular concern because produce is often consumed raw. The Food and Drug Admin. (FDA) has primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of both domestic and imported fresh produce. This report examines: (1) the resources FDA has spent on fresh produce safety and how it has allocated those resources; (2) the effectiveness of FDA¿s actions to oversee fresh produce safety; and (3) the extent to which FDA¿s planned actions to enhance fresh produce oversight address identified challenges. Includes recommendations. Illustrations.
Download or read book Guidebook for the Preparation of HACCP Plans written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A review of best food safety practices International experiences and lessons for Bangladesh written by Saak, Alexander E. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of this report is to identify best food safety practices that can inform policy makers in Bangladesh and other developing countries by examining and synthesizing experiences in food safety systems and regulation as well as producer and consumer behavior in low, middle, and high income countries. We begin by presenting the general objectives and principles of food safety regulation in countries with mature food safety systems. Then we review government food safety regulatory systems in Denmark and the U.S. to illustrate different approaches to organizing the implementation of food safety regulation. The food safety systems of both of these countries were updated within the past 20 years (Denmark in 1997 and the U.S. in 2011), and as a result the two systems incorporate modern best practices in food safety. The recent changes to U.S. food safety law are described in depth, as an example of a country updating a food safety system that was developed over 80 years ago based on modern principles. We conclude by summarizing the best practices and consider their potential to improve food safety in an emerging economy such as Bangladesh.
Download or read book Food Safety and Quality written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Outbreak written by Timothy D. Lytton and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foodborne illness is a big problem. Wash those chicken breasts, and you’re likely to spread Salmonella to your countertops, kitchen towels, and other foods nearby. Even salad greens can become biohazards when toxic strains of E. coli inhabit the water used to irrigate crops. All told, contaminated food causes 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year in the United States. With Outbreak, Timothy D. Lytton provides an up-to-date history and analysis of the US food safety system. He pays particular attention to important but frequently overlooked elements of the system, including private audits and liability insurance. Lytton chronicles efforts dating back to the 1800s to combat widespread contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella that have become frighteningly familiar to consumers. Over time, deadly foodborne illness outbreaks caused by infected milk, poison hamburgers, and tainted spinach have spurred steady scientific and technological advances in food safety. Nevertheless, problems persist. Inadequate agency budgets restrict the reach of government regulation. Pressure from consumers to keep prices down constrains industry investments in safety. The limits of scientific knowledge leave experts unable to assess policies’ effectiveness and whether measures designed to reduce contamination have actually improved public health. Outbreak offers practical reforms that will strengthen the food safety system’s capacity to learn from its mistakes and identify cost-effective food safety efforts capable of producing measurable public health benefits.
Download or read book Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-09-10 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.
Download or read book Food Safety Culture written by Frank Yiannas and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-12-10 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Food safety awareness is at an all time high, new and emerging threats to the food supply are being recognized, and consumers are eating more and more meals prepared outside of the home. Accordingly, retail and foodservice establishments, as well as food producers at all levels of the food production chain, have a growing responsibility to ensure that proper food safety and sanitation practices are followed, thereby, safeguarding the health of their guests and customers. Achieving food safety success in this changing environment requires going beyond traditional training, testing, and inspectional approaches to managing risks. It requires a better understanding of organizational culture and the human dimensions of food safety. To improve the food safety performance of a retail or foodservice establishment, an organization with thousands of employees, or a local community, you must change the way people do things. You must change their behavior. In fact, simply put, food safety equals behavior. When viewed from these lenses, one of the most common contributing causes of food borne disease is unsafe behavior (such as improper hand washing, cross-contamination, or undercooking food). Thus, to improve food safety, we need to better integrate food science with behavioral science and use a systems-based approach to managing food safety risk. The importance of organizational culture, human behavior, and systems thinking is well documented in the occupational safety and health fields. However, significant contributions to the scientific literature on these topics are noticeably absent in the field of food safety.
