FDA NEWS RELEASE

          Contaminated food products such as eggs, beef, cantaloupe, lettuce and various other produce that may carry food borne illnesses like those of E. coli, Listeria or Salmonella have taken the spotlight in the media within the past couple of years. Although simple measures such as washing your hands before and after preparing foods, cooking all foods thoroughly, and refrigerating foods within an hour after cooking them are common knowledge among most American households the problem essentially starts behind the scenes way before that product is anywhere near your fork or mouth. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency developed to promote public health by assuring safety, effectiveness and security of our nation’s food supply, has proposed two new rules that will help prevent future occurrences of these and potentially other foodborne illnesses through their extensive outreach to produce industries in various levels of local, state, government and international facilities. (Burgess, 2013)    

            Every individual is vulnerable to foodborne illnesses and sometimes the bacteria from the illness may already be on the food products when you purchase them from your local grocery store. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (2011), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, each year in the United States an estimated 48 million individuals will fall victim to a foodborne illness and nearly 3,000 deaths will occur. The two proposals require evidence based science standards to be established and preventive controls to be part of the norm across all sectors of the food systems. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2013) With the new preventive guidelines that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing, the decrease in foodborne illness can reduce outbreaks and recalls of food products, lower medical costs, and improve the overall health status of the general public. The two food safety proposals are up for discussion and open for public comment for the next 120 days. Once the comment period is closed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff, with the compliance and implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), will review the public comments which will allow them to better enable how the rules can best work together to create an integrated, effective and efficient food safety system. (Burgess, 2013) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did research, held meetings and visited multiple produce farms, industries and facilities before composing these new rules to avoid unnecessary controversy and to protect the food safety of all Americans.          

           

For more information on this article and proposed rules please visit:

Burgess, S. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2013). FDA proposes new food safety standards for foodborne illness prevention and produce safety. Retrieved from website: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm334156.htm

Food Safety and Inspection Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. (2011). Foodborne illness: What consumers need to know. Retrieved from website: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FACTSheets/Foodborne_Illness_What_Consumers_Need_to_Know/index.asp

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2013). Federal register notice for the proposed rule “current good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for human food” (FDA-2011-N-0920). Retrieved from website: http://www.ofr.gov/(X(1)S(v3yf3je4uhgifjgft2sscuim))/OFRUpload/OFRData/2013-00125_PI.pdf