Food Safety Legislation Delayed

In September, the Food Marketing Institute and GS1 US, the electronic data-exchange and standards-setting organization, announced the Rapid Recall Exchange, a non-governmental online service through which manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers can communicate about food and product recalls. The Exchange replaces and improves upon the Product Recall Portal, company officials said. “The food industry is ultimately responsible for the safety of its products,” noted Pamela G. Bailey, president and chief executive of the GMA, which, along with the National Grocers Association, supports the new system.

Commodity Guidances

In late July, the FDA announced three new draft safety guidelines for growers of “priority commodities,” including melons, lettuce and leafy greens, and tomatoes, produce at high risk for contamination by Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, norovirus, and other pathogens. The guidances cover supply chain activities like field selection, planting, growing, harvesting, packing, storage, distribution, preparation, and food handling. “These new food safety guidelines will facilitate the development of enforceable food safety standards,” Dr. Hamburg said.

The guidances are based on best practices developed by the produce industry with the assistance of the FDA and are voluntary, at least until food safety legislation is passed into law, points of contention for consumer groups. “Consumers Union [CU] believes that a far better solution is to pass Food and Drug Administration food safety reform as soon as possible,” said Elisa Odabashian, director of CU’s West Coast office. “The FDA’s weakness, in terms of lack of authority and resources, has created a vacuum that has allowed these problems to develop and must be remedied” with legislation, Odabashian said in testimony before the USDA in September.

“The increased demand for fresh produce presents restaurant operators with a great opportunity and responsibility,” said Beth Johnson, National Restaurant Association executive vice president of public affairs. “We are pleased with the increased attention to food safety by the Congress, the administration, and the industry and support the development of science-based national standards for fresh fruits and vegetables,” she told Food Quality.

The FDA in October announced it had awarded 83 grants—totaling $17.5 million—to fund cooperative agreements among Federal, state, and local agencies to improve food and safety initiatives. The states of Virginia, Texas, and Washington received $1.5 million to create and outfit rapid response teams to work with federal authorities in case of any food-related threat or emergency.

“The grants are another step in the FDA’s continuing efforts to build an integrated food safety system between Federal, state, and local partners,” Michael Chappell, the agency’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

Agres is a freelance writer based in Laurel, Md. Reach him at [email protected].