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Executive Summary
Pages 1-16

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From page 1...
... The committee was asked to (1) assess the effectiveness of the current system to ensure safe food, and (2)
From page 2...
... The nature of food safety concerns has changed due to past successful efforts to control the use of unidentified or misrepresented food ingredients and problems with the appearance and wholesomeness of food products; microbiological and chemical hazards now present new and in some cases increasingly serious challenges which cannot be detected using traditional inspection methods. The introduction of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
From page 3...
... The recent proposal to create a Joint Food Safety Research Institute 1 The major federal agencies involved include: the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, the Economic Research Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health of the Department of Health and Human Services; the National Marine Fisheries Service of the Department of Commerce; and the Environmental Protection Agency.
From page 4...
... Summary Findings: The Current US System for Food Safety Has many of the attributes of an effective system; is a complex, inter-related activity involving government at all levels, the food industry from farm and sea to table, universities, the media, and the consumer; is moving toward a more science-based approach with HACCP and with risk based assessment; is limited by statute in implementing practices and enforcement that are based in science; is fragmented by having 12 primary federal agencies involved in key functions of safety: monitoring, surveillance, inspection, enforcement, outbreak management, research, and education; and is facing tremendous pressures with regard to: - emerging pathogens and ability to detect them; maintaining adequate inspection and monitoring of the increasing volume of imported foods, especially fruits and vegetables; maintaining adequate inspection of commercial food services and the increasing number of larger food processing plants; and the growing number of people at high risk for foodborne illnesses.
From page 5...
... The limited resources available to address food safety issues direct that regulatory priorities be based on risk analysis, which includes evaluation of prevention strategies where possible. This approach enables regulators to estimate the probability that various categories of susceptible persons (for example, the elderly, or nursing mothers)
From page 6...
... A central voice is critical to effective marshaling of all aspects of the food safety system to create a coordinated response to foodborne disease outbreaks. Control of resources is also critical in
From page 7...
... 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 non-federal partners (state, local, industry, consumers)
From page 8...
... Inconsistent food statutes often inhibit the use of science-based decision-making in activities related to food safety, including lack of jurisdiction to evaluate food-handling practices in countries of origin for some types of imported foods. The federal government response to food safety issues is too often crisisdriven.
From page 9...
... Summary Findings: Where the US Food Safety System Falls Short . Inconsistent, uneven and at times archaic food statutes that in Dint use of science-based decision-making in activities related to food safety, including imported foods; a lack of adequate integration among the 12 primary agencies that are involved in implementing the 35 primary statutes that regulate food safety; inadequate integration of federal programs and activities with state and local activities; absence of focused leadership: no single federal entity is both responsible for the government's efforts and given the authority to implement policy and designate resources toward food safety activities; lack of similar missions with regard to food safety of the various agencies reviewed; inadequate emphasis on surveillance necessary to provide timely information on current and potential foodborne hazards; resources currently identified for research and surveillance inadequate to support science-based system; limited consumer knowledge, which does not appear to have much impact on food-handling behavior; and lack of nationwide adherence to appropriate minimum standards.
From page 10...
... Recommendation IIa: Congress should change federal statutes so that inspection, enforcement, and research efforts can be based on scientifically supportable assessments of risks to public health. Limitations on the resources available to address food safety issues require that food safety activities operate with maximal efficiency within these limits.
From page 11...
... should be allocated in accordance with science-based assessments of risk and potential benefit. Changes in statutes or organization should be based on a rational, welldeveloped national food safety plan formulated by current federal agencies charged with food safety efforts and with representation from the many stakeholders involved in ensuring safe food.
From page 12...
... ~..~ . ~ , ~ ~ Recommendation IIIa: To implement a science-based system, Congress should establish, by statute, a unified and central framework for managing federal food safety programs, one that is headed by a single official and which has the responsibility and control of resources for all federal food safety activities, including outbreak management, standardsetting, inspection, monitoring, surveillance, risk assessment, enforcement, research, and education.
From page 13...
... Nor, in the committee's view, can this goal be achieved through a coordinating committee similar to that currently provided via the National Food Safety Initiative. In evaluating possible structures, the committee realized that past experience with other structures or
From page 14...
... The work of the states and localities in support of the federal mission deserves improved formal recognition and appropriate financial support. Statutory tools required to integrate state and local activities regarding food safety into an effective national system are shown in Box ES-5.
From page 15...
... Although the National Food Safety Initiative properly seeks to alleviate problems inherent in the present decentralized structure, experience indicates that any ad hoc administrative adjustments and commitments to coordination will not suffice to bring about the vast cultural changes and collaborative efforts needed to create an integrated system. Changing hazards associated with food and changing degrees of acceptance of risk are factors that impact the nation's ability to protect public health and ensure safe food.


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