Remarks prepared for delivery by Jerold Mande, deputy under secretary for food safety, for the public meeting on product tracing related to E. coli O157:H7, March 10, 2010, in the Jefferson Auditorium, Washington, DC

Introduction
Good morning and welcome to our second public meeting on product tracing.

Almost one year ago, President Obama established the Food Safety Working Group. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack were given the honor to co-chair this group.

So on behalf of Secretaries Vilsack and Sebelius, and the Food Safety Working Group, I want to thank you for being here to participate in this important meeting on product traceback.

Food safety is a high priority of this administration as evidenced by the working group and its accomplishments.

But there is still much more to do. The working group identified improving our ability to trace contaminants back to their source as a high priority in our July 2009 Key Findings report.

As you may recall, we held a joint meeting with the Food and Drug Administration in December that was focused on improving the system for tracing food products and ingredients related to illnesses, especially during an outbreak.

We asked for and got your input on what's working right in our system, where we have gaps, and ways we can improve.

I am thankful you all are here as this discussion continues.

The work here today is important — it is work that's vigorously supported by both the secretary and the president. Secretary Vilsack has said that we must do everything we can to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths down to zero.

Meeting Overview
Our focus at this meeting is on our product tracing efforts for Shiga toxin E. coli O157:H7. And more specifically how we trace back to suppliers when the agency gets a positive test result from its routine testing program.

We will share with you our latest thinking on how to strengthen our traceback efforts.

We will explain our role with PulseNet regarding FSIS positive test results.

PulseNet, which was co-founded by FSIS and is directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a prime example of what we can accomplish when we all work together. This national network of public health laboratories, combined with epidemiology, has been key in enabling federal agencies to detect and control outbreaks of foodborne illnesses rapidly.

Finally we will share with you our thoughts on next steps.

I appreciate Dr. David Goldman, Judy Riggins and Dr. Dan Engeljohn for being here to speak to you on these topics.

Working Together
The discussion and efforts to improve food safety don't stop here. They continue. We also want to hear from you. We have set aside ample time today for comments and I encourage you to submit comments in writing to us as well.

I appreciate and share your dedication to food safety. And I know we all share a commitment, just like the secretary and the president, to reduce foodborne illnesses and preventable deaths from foodborne illness as low as we can.

Thank you.