On January 4, my Pew colleagues and I applauded President Obama and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for releasing two sets of draft rules central to implementing the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the first major update to our food safety laws in more than 70 years. The law signals a long-overdue shift in FDA’s food safety strategy. Instead of reacting to an outbreak after it occurs, the agency will focus on preventing illnesses before they happen. This emphasis on prevention should help strengthen food safety and reduce foodborne illnesses, which strike about 48 million Americans and are responsible for more than $77 billion in health-related costs each year.
The administration has taken an important step, but it must do more. Important draft regulations focused on the safety of imported foods are still awaiting release. These rules, which include the creation of a new Foreign Supplier Verification Program, are especially important since about two-thirds of fruits and vegetables and 80 percent of seafood consumed in the United States come from abroad. Overall, imports account for as much as 15 percent of all food consumed in U.S. households—and that figure is growing about 10 percent annually.
Merrill Behnke, a 30-year-old mom from Bellevue, Wash., is a prime example of why we need import rules. She is one of 22 people in 14 states sickened by imported cheese contaminated with the dangerous bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes. Merrill spent 16 days in the hospital, followed by several weeks of intravenous antibiotic treatments at home, where she often could not interact with her one-year-old daughter. In addition to the Listeria outbreak, mangoes, pine nuts, papayas and raw tuna used in sushi sickened 723 people and killed four nationwide. These illnesses and deaths all occurred after Congress passed FSMA in January 2011, and all involved imported foods.
In the years leading up to the enactment of FSMA, FDA relied primarily on minimal border inspections to identify safety problems, leaving at least 98 percent of imported foods unexamined by agency officials. When implemented, however, the new Foreign Supplier Verification Program will hold importers responsible for making sure the food they bring into the United States is safe. Americans are also waiting for proposed rules governing the use of private, third-party auditors who, in certain instances, can be relied on to help ensure the safety of imported food.
Industry and consumer advocates welcomed the new draft standards for fresh produce and processed foods and want to see them finalized quickly. However, it is essential that the administration also release and make final the import safety requirements. This is the best way to make sure imported food is safe to enjoy, and to prevent what Merrill and her family experienced from happening to other Americans.
In January 2011, President Barack Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law, signaling the first major update to our nation’s food safety oversight framework since the Great Depression. Despite widespread support for the legislation and its implementation, the Obama administration still has not issued all of the proposed rules under FSMA.
More infoThe Pew Charitable Trusts applauds Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) for her efforts to strengthen food safety protections under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and provide grant funding to help school cafeterias across the nation upgrade their equipment to serve healthy, appealing meals to millions of school children. Funding for both programs was included in a larger bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
More info"Being a Minnesotan, Jeff Almer searched for a polite term to describe how he feels about a congressional push to roll back the new food safety laws his family fought for when his elderly mother died after eating salmonella-laced peanut butter in late 2008."
More infoThe Pew Charitable Trusts commends Representative Tom Latham (R-IA) for his leadership in securing approximately $27 million for food safety in the House appropriations bill funding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. The new money would help the FDA protect millions of Americans from the dangers of foodborne illnesses and strengthen consumer confidence in the food supply.
More infoAs a pediatrician, my No. 1 concern is to keep children safe and healthy. Inside the walls of my office, I can provide services and counseling to help do just that, whether by giving an infant her first childhood vaccine, providing a mental health screening to an adolescent patient or counseling parents about how to keep their homes as safe as possible. Unfortunately, there are some threats to children's health that are beyond my control, including the food they consume.
More infoCDC Data Show Alarmingly High Rate of Listeria Infections for Expectant MomsFrom 2004 2009, 29 percent of cases during pregnancy ended in miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death Data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Foodborne
More infoDuring a 15-year span beginning in the mid-1990s, infections in the United States from the pathogen vibrio have increased threefold, according to data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
More info"The Food and Drug Administration will not reduce food inspections because of budget cuts, despite warning earlier that it could be forced to eliminate thousands of inspections by Sept. 30."
More info"Twenty-two weeks. That’s how long it took federal health officials to determine the contaminated food source after the first person was infected in a 2011 outbreak of salmonella that swept across 34 states, sickened 136 people and led to one of the largest national recalls of ground turkey."
More infoAn examination of a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to ground turkey illustrates that health authorities must be more aggressive in their efforts to detect and respond to foodborne illnesses, according to a new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts, titled “Too Slow: An Analysis of the 2011 Salmonella Ground Turkey Outbreak and Recommendations for Improving Detection and Response.” In all, the contaminated food sickened a reported 136 people in the United States, hospitalized 37 and killed one, according to government data.
More infoA multistate outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections linked to ground turkey in 2011 sickened 136 people, causing 37 hospitalizations and one death. The Pew Charitable Trusts' analysis of the outbreak found numerous inadequacies in the foodborne illness surveillance system that, if addressed, could help to prevent illnesses and, in some cases, deaths.
More info"Six years ago, Bend resident Chrissy Christoferson's ten-month-old son suffered a ten-day struggle with what first appeared to be a touch of the flu."
More info"Portlander Joe Day tearfully recalled the year his family spent Thanksgiving in a hospital cafeteria, as his sister, suffering from e coli, fought for her life several floors above."
More infoMy name is Jennifer Exley, and I reside in Centennial, Colorado. I am the daughter of Herbert Stevens, who was deeply impacted by listeria-contaminated cantaloupe in August 2011. As you well know, 147 people were sickened and 33 people died in that outbreak — the deadliest in 25 years. My father was one of the so-called lucky survivors. His health and quality of life was, and remains, seriously affected because of something he ate.
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