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.
The concerns surrounding produce safety are issues that no single party can address independently. The simulation, in which teams communicated, coordinated, and made decisions, was designed to encourage building and enhancing a mutual understanding for the various standards implementation and enforcement challenges faced amongst the stakeholders. Participants worked within and across teams to better understand the cascading effects of actions on different stakeholders, and how subsequent actions and assumptions could compound or alleviate problems.
In stakeholder teams (see Exhibit 1), the participants considered the challenges of a future environment in which mandatory safety standards have been implemented to explore impacts on their operations, as well as impacts on others (e.g., within the supply chain, to end-consumers, to enforcement agencies). While each team contained a mix of participants, most participants were from the team’s actual stakeholder group (e.g., most of the participants assigned to the Federal Government Team were from actual government agencies). This team structure offered an opportunity for “cross-organizational” dialogue throughout the simulation.
The participants examined such key questions as:
During the simulation, “moves” represented periods of team interaction. In Move One, mandatory standards requiring safety measures from pre-harvest activities through final processing prior to retail were introduced. These standards included microbial testing requirements for irrigation water, soil amendments, and crop treatments. Risk management planning for domestic fresh leafy green produce and detailed record keeping were also critical standard components. Equivalent safety standards were also put in place for imported fresh leafy green produce.
Move Two began with more stringent standards and enforcement, which resulted from an outbreak involving a leafy green commodity that caused several deaths and a large number of reported illnesses around the nation. New requirements around flood protocols and additional employee handling guidelines were included. Inspections and records review became a minimum twice-a-year requirement rather than only once yearly.
Through this type of engagement, participants were able to gain invaluable insights into each others’ perspectives.
The 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 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 infoNo matter how careful you are, foodborne bacteria can find a way into your child’s lunch and make him or her sick. Symptoms can include diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever. Children are often among the most vulnerable, and in some cases, illnesses can lead to hospitalization, long-term health complications and even death.
More infoThis interactive graphic represents the ten most widespread multistate foodborne illness outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated products since FSMA was enacted, which constitute a small portion of total foodborne illnesses reported during that period.
More infoIn recent months, the White House has stalled on a host of pending rules, including implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act.
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