Is It Time for the Next Major Food Safety Overhaul?

Consider that in the U.S. Senate, the committees on agriculture; nutrition; forestry; homeland security and governmental affairs; and health, education, labor, and pensions are all actively involved in making decisions relating to food safety. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the committees responsible for making decisions include agriculture; energy and commerce; over­sight and government reform; and science. Agriculture subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees also play oversight and funding roles in how the major agencies carry out food safety policies. The potential for waste and redundancy under such a system is obvious.

In 2011, the FSIS received more than a billion dollars in appropriated funds, plus another approximately $150 million in industry-paid user fees. Yet, these two organizations have jurisdiction over only 10% to 20% of the U.S. food supply. FSIS employs a staff of more than 9,000 workers, approximately 8,000 of whom work in the roughly 6,300 meat slaughter and/or processing plants nationwide.

Processing inspection does not require inspectors to remain on the production line constantly or to inspect every single food product. Rather, inspectors are tasked with the responsibility of verifying a plant’s adherence to its HACCP program, examining its standards for sanitary conditions, ingredient levels, and packaging, and conducting occasional microbiological sampling.

Perhaps, the time has come to change the way we think about food safety. And, perhaps, nothing less than a complete overhaul of our national food safety apparatus would allow us to take the next big step forward.

How It Would Work

We have arrived at a fork in the road to safer food and are faced with the choice of continuing on the path we’ve taken—adding more rules, regulations, and oversight with the hope that we will reach a point at which foodborne illness disappears—or going in a different direction. The law of diminishing returns tells us that that in all productive processes, adding more of one factor of production (regulations and inspectors) while holding all others constant will at some point yield lower per-unit returns.

Thus, the real solution to this problem will most likely be achieved scientifically, not bureaucratically. Continuing to spend enormous sums of money on redundant, antiquated, and ineffective solutions is irresponsible and self-indulgent. Inspectors and laws are incapable of seeing microscopic pathogens. Government will still play a critical role in the design and implementation of an overhauled food safety system. But, it may be time to come to terms with the reality that pragmatism and science, rather than bureaucrats and legislation, make food safer.

The first step in setting an overhaul into motion should be the formation of an independent panel that is tasked with a top-down review of government food safety expenditures that focuses on waste and redundancy. Simultaneous studies aimed at identifying and developing a more streamlined inspection apparatus should be commissioned by experts in the field of science, technology, agriculture, and engineering.

Technology is increasing at a rate never before seen. Government should, for the first time in history, set the table for new discoveries in anticipation of the continued occurrence of existing and emerging pathogens. There are enormous changes on the horizon as a result of globalization, possible climate change, and financial challenges across the world. The results of these changes will lead to a far more dynamic environment surrounding the food industry. If we do not substantially modify our food safety systems, it is likely that neither the food industry nor government will be able to effectively address new and emerging issues relating to food safety.