State Surveillance of Foodborne Illness

In an effort to determine states’ capacity to track produce-related cases of foodborne illness and gain a better understanding of how states conduct investigations of outbreaks, the Produce Safety Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, commissioned Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.) to conduct a survey of state health departments. The survey was sent to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 39 responded. The survey requested 2007 data on the types of questionnaires administered by state health departments to foodborne-illness victims, the time frame in which they were completed, the types of questions asked, and how states collected and stored the resulting data. These elements are key in the effective identification of the source of a foodborne illness.

PSP Submits Growers' Comments

The Produce Safety Project (PSP) supports the development by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a mandatory and enforceable produce safety standard for the growing, harvesting and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables. Among other activities, PSP sponsored six stakeholder discussions around the country with the goal of providing a platform for stakeholders, with particular emphasis on growers, to discuss their expertise in promoting produce safety through their current practices and offer input for consideration by FDA as it prepares to propose a produce safety rule.

Produce Safety Summit: Implications of Mandatory Safety Standards

Every year in the United States, foodborne illnesses cause sickness, death, and significant economic and social costs that extend beyond the immediate victims. In January 2007, the Government Accountability Office designated federal oversight of food safety as a high-risk area because of the need to reduce risks to public health as well as the economy. In March 2009, President Obama announced the creation of a Food Safety Working Group to address the need to reduce foodborne illness.

A number of actions are being proposed to address these issues, including mandatory safety standards for foods such as fresh produce. However, there are significant inherent challenges in the implementation and enforcement of safety standards, primarily due to multi-stakeholder involvement, increased complexities in the food production and distribution chains, and fragmentation of oversight responsibilities.

Lessons to Be Learned from the 2008 Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak of 2008 officially over on August 28, 2008, some three months after it began. During that time, more than 1,400 persons were reported infected, and if, as suggested by research, this represents an underreporting, the outbreak may have sickened thousands of Americans. Given the human, economic and public-health costs of this recent food borne-illness outbreak, therefore, it is critical to learn from it. This report represents the first extensive and in-depth review of the public record of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. In doing so, three areas of concern have surfaced: policy, the public-health system's organization and outbreak response, and its communications with the media and the public.

Legal Analysis Examines Limits to Agricultural Marketing Service's Role in Produce Safety Standards

This Legal Analysis by the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Examines AMS’s Role in Produce Safety Standards.

How Safe Are Our Food Imports?

The Pew Health Group and the Center for Science in the Public Interest address the safety of imported seafood and raw produce.

FDA Responsibilities and Resources

Charged with responsibility for keeping 80% of the nation's food supply (including fresh produce) safe, the FDA receives less than 25% of federal dollars spent on food safety activities.