Ensuring Safe Food From Production to Consumption (1998) / Chapter Skim
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4. What Constitutes an Effective Food Safety System?
4. What Constitutes an Effective Food Safety System?
Pages 63-78
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From page 63... ...
The committee defines safe food as food that is wholesome, that does not exceed an acceptable level of risk associated with pathogenic organisms or chemical and physical hazards, and whose supply is the result of the combined activities of Congress, regulatory agencies, multiple industries, universities, private organizations, and consumers. The mission of a food safety system should be stated as an operational charge that uses and reflects that definition.
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From page 64... ...
Activities that are implied in the definition and are incorporated in achieving the mission to ensure safe food include: adequate monitoring and surveillance; science-based research and development; incorporation of the tenets of risk analysis, including risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication; good practices in food production, processing, manufacturing, retail sale, transportation, preparation, and handling; and appropriate technical assistance and education. Box 4-1 provides a definition of science-based and related examples.
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From page 65... ...
The mission should be focused on using public health resources and management to perform risk analysis and research and at the same time on optimizing coordination and planning of prevention, intervention, control, response, and communication mechanisms. GENERAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE SYSTEM An effective food safety system is an interdependent system composed of government agencies at all levels, businesses and other private organizations, consumers, and supporting players.
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From page 66... ...
The globalization of the food system and other factors that can increase We risk of foodborne incidents mandate urgency in adopting the system. The effective food safety system is focused on public health, and its many actions are aligned to achieve a safer food supply, improve public health, and instill consumers' confidence in both the system and their role in improving it.
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From page 67... ...
As global markets and domestic consumers expect safer food, safety itself can become a factor in differentiating products. Retailers can help to leverage this concept as brand names become associated with reduced risks.
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From page 68... ...
A Science-Based Foundation Using Risk Analysis The scientific foundation for decision-making within a food safety system is risk analysis. The role of risk analysis in an effective food safety system is threefold: it provides a basis for identifying where resources should be allocated in the short term; it constitutes a mechanism for determining where public and private efforts should be directed in the long term, especially with respect to research and preventive measures; and it yields important information for estimating and analyzing the costs and benefits of policy alternatives.
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From page 69... ...
Surveillance and monitoring, education and research, and enforcement and regulation are all used to identify, set priorities among, and address concerns. Surveillance is the first step toward building the capacity to detect and respond to sporadic instances and outbreaks of foodborne illness.
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From page 70... ...
Not every research need can be met, but a force of the best scientific research investigators are needed to solve the long-term, difficult, and highly complex issues of food safety. These experts must be dedicated to the mission of protecting public health by ensuring a safe food supply and they must not be
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From page 71... ...
For instance, the intensity, nature, and frequency of inspection should be consistent for foods associated with like risks. Response and Adaptation to New Technology and Changing Consumer Needs The food supply and food production, processing, distribution and consumption practices in the United States have changed dramatically during the past 70 years.
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From page 72... ...
If federal and other programs are to prevent, identify, track, control, and respond to food related illness and reduce risks of future outbreaks or hazards, they will require commensurate funding. Insufficient funding and lack of incentives can diminish an ability to inspect and control foodborne illness; curtail needed research; prevent sustainable, aggressive, and innovative education efforts; and create instability in the system.
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From page 73... ...
The coordinated application of scientific, technical, and regulatory measures to prevent foodborne illness and promote public health and safety is critical to the federal government's mission, with its core responsibility to ensure an effective food safety system. There are also occasions where regulatory activity can encourage or require the use of new technologies, which causes movement toward higher standards in the system.
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From page 74... ...
Processors, Marketers, and Distributors The dairy processing industry recognized the need for effective control of foodborne pathogens by promoting the enactment of effective controls of milkborne disease, including pasteurization. To assist states and municipalities in their efforts to prevent milkborne disease, the US Public Health Service developed model regulations for voluntary adoption by state and local milkcontrol agencies in 1924.
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From page 75... ...
The industry has implemented new technologies developed by government and academe to reduce foodborne illness, has developed model partnerships, and has educated and informed consumers about the safety and nutritional composition of egg products. THE ROLE OF THE CONSUMER Consumers have a large and critical role in an effective food safety system.
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From page 76... ...
They should be involved in the development of protocols and studies to fill the vital information needs of the food safety system. Their leadership role requires them to ensure that their positions on food safety issues are science-based, and that they fairly represent the concerns of consumers in their advocacy role.
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From page 77... ...
In an effective food safety system these groups are recognized for their distinct and important roles and are encouraged to participate by membership on advisory groups, by providing direct input to the regulatory process, or by other actions. A DYNAMIC INTERDEPENDENCE Ensuring safe food is an appropriate role for government, but that role is not exclusive, nor is it a contract between government and the American public to guarantee absolute safety.
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From page 78... ...
. SUMMARY FINDINGS: An Effective Food Safety System Should be science-based with a strong emphasis on risk analysis and prevention, thus allowing the greatest priority in terms of resources and activity to be placed on the risks deemed to have the greatest potential impact; is based on a national food law that is clear, rational, and scientifically based on risk; includes comprehensive surveillance and monitoring activities which serve as a basis for risk analysis; has one central voice at the federal level which is responsible for food safety and has the authority and resources to implement science-based policy in all federal activities related to food safety; recognizes the responsibilities and central role played by the nonfederal partners (state, local, industry, consumers)
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