More or Less Food Safety Regulation?

A recent article in Food Safety News by Andy Weisbecker poses this question... More or less food safety regulation? We know the rumblings on outbreaks and food safety issues are growing. Over the past weeks, a few news stories have highlighted the distinctions between two different legislative approaches to address the issue of food safety. The impetus is accordingly growing across the country to get the pending FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which would give the FDA more authority and money, finally passed and enacted into law.

The American public seems to be in favor of more legislation. The article states that not only is the number of Americans concerned about outbreaks of illness linked to contaminated food increasing, the concern is also growing about the capacity of our existing food safety system to ensure our well being. A September 2009 survey among likely voters across the nation found that about 9 in 10 support the federal government adopting additional food safety measures and overall, 58 percent of voters were worried about bacterial contamination of the food supply--with about a third saying they worry "a great deal." The survey showed that American voters overwhelmingly believed the federal government should be responsible for protecting the food supply, and that the voters supported new measures to ensure it has the authority and capacity to do so.

However, opponents argue that this proposed legislation favors an industrial agricultural system, and that local food systems provide significant food safety benefits. In both Wyoming and Florida, state legislatures are considering bills to lessen the regulation of local "cottage" foods, with their proponents arguing at least in part that this approach would increase food safety.

What do you think? Is more or less better?

To read the full story and understand both sides of the issue, click here.

Foodborne Illnesses in U.S. Cost $152B Annually

An article today in Business Week by Steven Reinberg states that foodborne illnesses cost the United States an estimated $152 billion each year in health-related expenses.

"These costs are significantly more than previous official estimates, and it demonstrates the serious burden that food-borne illness places on society," Sandra Eskin, director of the Food Safety Campaign at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C., said during a Tuesday press conference.

These health-related costs include physician services, hospital services, medicines and also quality-of-life losses, such as deaths, pain, suffering and disability.

According to federal statistics, it is estimated that each year 76 million Americans are sickened by contaminated food, with 5,000 of these illnesses becoming fatal.

Illnesses from well recognized pathogens play the largest role. For example, costs related to campylobacter exceed $18.8 billion annually; costs linked to salmonella are estimated at $14.6 billion; and costs related to listeria are $8.8 billion, according to the report.

And the majority of these foodborne illnesses are caused by produce, which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thirty-nine percent of E. coli outbreaks were due to produce regulated by the FDA.

It is hoped that the report will spur Congress to pass food safety legislation to strengthen the FDA's food safety efforts and give the agency more authority over the foods it regulates and more funding to make the food supply safer.

Please click here to read the full article.

Senator Feinstein on Processed Food Safety Act

The Food Poison Journal reports that on December 1st Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to require that food producers take responsibility for keeping food free from harmful pathogens. The bill aims to amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to prevent the sale of any food that is not certified to be pathogen free.

The Processed Food Safety Act requires everyone in the food chain to take responsibility for keeping food free of harmful pathogens. Here are the details of the bill:

• Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Meat Inspection Act and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prohibit the sale of any processed poultry, meat and FDA-regulated food that has not either undergone a pathogen reduction treatment, or been certified to contain no verifiable traces of pathogens.
• Requires that labels on ground beef, or any other ground meat product, specifically name every cut of meat that is contained in the product, and;
• Does away with loopholes in current laws that allow for producers to add coloring, synthetic flavorings and spices to their products without informing the consumer.

Senator Feinstein maintains that serious reform is needed and lists the number of recalls just in the past month. To read the full article visit:

http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/2009/12/articles/food-policy-regulation/senator-feinstein-on-processed-food-safety-act/