 |
Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
|
|
Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
Speeches
Remarks prepared for delivery by Dr. Elsa Murano, Under Secretary for Food Safety, before the International Congress of Refrigeration, August 19, 2003, Washington, DC.
~Webmaster's Note: Links to the slides that accompanied this presentation are available throughout the text. To view the slide, click/select the thumbnail image. Use the BACK button for return to the text.
(Slide 1)
Good
afternoon! It is certainly a pleasure to be here with you today. I know you have
a very ambitious agenda this week, but I hope you will have at least a few
minutes to see our beautiful capital city. You may not know that Washington was
built on a swamp. (Slide 2)
If,
back in the early 1800s, you were traveling to the area of the Ronald Reagan
building, where your reception was last night, you would have gone by
flat-bottomed boat. Routinely spending the month of August in a swamp would be
hot even for a Texan like me if it wasn’t for the wonderful invention of the
centrifugal refrigeration machine! On behalf of all of us who live in this
former swamp, I thank you!
I can readily say that, in Washington, there are a tremendous number of issues that we deal with each day. However, the safety of our food supply is one of the most important issues we face at USDA and as a nation.
There
is nothing more personal or vital to us all than the food we provide to our
families and ourselves. (Slide 3)
Consistent and accurate refrigeration changed not only the food industry but the
nation forever. Today, we depend on all manner of convenient food preparation,
none of which would be possible with out the many refrigeration technologies
many of you in this room helped pioneer. You’ve all done a marvelous job.
(Slide 4)
I
believe we have the best food production and processing system in the world,
providing consumers with the most abundant and safest food supply. However, over
the last few years we have seen that the system is not perfect. Food safety
continues to be a serious matter and one, that if not continually addressed, can
lead to tragic events in some cases. Because of your experience, and your
dedication, I would like to take this opportunity to enlist your help in
improving the safety of the food supply and protecting public health. We share
this mission and together we can make a difference.
(Slide 5)
Of
course, government has a major role in improving food safety. And I believe this
Administration's commitment to taking food safety to the next level is plain to
see in the recently-released vision paper titled "Enhancing Public Health:
Strategies for the Future." I hope you have had a chance to read it--it's
available on the FSIS web site at www. fsis.usda.gov, and we also have copies
available here today. But don't worry if you haven't had a chance to read it
yet, because I will be discussing it in a few minutes.
Epidemiological data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our own regulatory testing show that we are headed in the right direction. There has been a significant decline in the number of food borne illness over the past six years. Despite these positive trends, we must continue to push even harder, and the agenda for this meeting reflects this need. It certainly is not time to declare victory in the fight against foodborne illness. Eradicating foodborne illness is an evolving challenge—a moving target, so to speak. The good news is that we know more about how to fight pathogens, we have better tools at our disposal, and all of us are working better as a team. But in order to use all of our new knowledge and tools to our advantage, we must have a firm idea of where we headed.
It’s important that we continually examine what we’ve accomplished and where
we need to go next. (Slide 6) Over the
past two years, the Food Safety and Inspection Service has been implementing a
5-point strategy and it has successfully improved our food safety programs. I
want to take a few minutes to review those accomplishments as a prelude to a
discussion of the future. Then I will discuss our new initiatives for 2003 and
the next level of the Food Safety Vision that we must achieve.
As I mentioned, FSIS has been implementing a strategy consisting of five goals:
Goal #1-First is improving the management and effectiveness of regulatory programs, and I believe we have seen significant changes in three major areas--workforce, agency organization, and automation.
(Slide 7) We know it is essential
for FSIS to have a scientifically and technically trained workforce that can
operate in modern food safety systems. One step in that direction was increasing
our cadre of scientifically trained personnel, known as Consumer Safety Officers
or CSOs. FSIS has trained 107 employees as CSOs in FY 2002, and plans to train
almost 200 additional employees in FY 2003.
(Slide 8) FSIS is also finalizing a
plan for reorganization to prepare the Agency to better meet its public health
and food safety goals. The changes have strengthened the bonds among the FSIS
offices and have made operations more coherent and responsive.
(Slide 9) In addition to the
reorganization, FSIS has instituted new automated systems to assist in achieving
its mission, an example being the new Automated Import Information System (AIIS),
which directs port-of-entry sampling of imported shipments.
Goal #2-The second goal is ensuring that policy decisions
are based on science.
(Slide 10) The
framework for this approach is the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Points (PR/HACCP) system. This preventive approach is working,
as evidenced by a 16 percent overall decrease in foodborne illnesses between
1996 and 2002, and by a decrease from 5.0 percent to 4.3 percent in the
prevalence of Salmonella in regulatory samples from 2001 to 2002.
(Slide 11)
Within the HACCP
framework, FSIS continuously reviews its existing authorities and regulations to
ensure that emerging food safety challenges are adequately addressed. FSIS has
issued regulations for establishments producing ready-to-eat products where the
pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is a concern. It has issued new
procedures emphasizing the use of Salmonella testing. FSIS also announced
a series of new measures to further prevent contamination of ground beef with
the pathogen E. coli O157:H7. And FSIS began implementing a verification
program to verify that establishments using Advanced Meat Recovery systems to
produce beef are preventing spinal cord from entering the food supply.
(Slide 12)
We are also improving
our ability to determine the threats we face. Risk assessment is increasingly
being used to provide FSIS with the solid scientific foundation on which to base
regulatory and policy decisions. For example, FSIS’ release early this year of a
draft quantitative risk assessment for Listeria in ready-to-eat (RTE)
meat and poultry products provided important data enabling FSIS to publish a
final Listeria rule. Our aim is to be inclusive and not make policy in a
vacuum.
(Slide 13)
Throughout the process
of developing these policies, FSIS has aggressively sought the input of the
scientific community and others. The Agency has sponsored many public meetings
and scientific symposia that allow the agency to share information with, and
gather input from, stakeholders on food safety and public health topics.
Goal #3-The third goal is improving coordination of food
safety activities with other public health agencies. (Slide
14)
An example of this progress was the unprecedented investigation
conducted with the CDC and State and local public health agencies on the
northeastern listeriosis outbreak that occurred in 2002.
(Slide 15)
Another example of
enhanced public health agency coordination is the growing cadre of Public Health
Service Commissioned Corps Officers, who are working at FSIS through a
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ PHS Commissioned Corp.
Goal #4-The fourth goal is enhancing public education
efforts.
(Slide 16) Food safety
education is an important complement to effective regulation in reducing the
risk of foodborne illness. FSIS has been conducting an aggressive educational
campaign of public events and media interviews with national and regional news
organizations in order to reach more of the population with important public
health messages.
(Slide 17)
Our educational efforts
have also ‘hit the road’. FSIS has launched the
USDA Food Safety Mobile
to strategic locations throughout the country to bring food safety messages
directly to the public. Through a partnership with university extension agents
and private industry, the Mobile has hosted numerous demonstrations for food
handlers of all ages.
And keeping in mind the changing demographics of the Nation, FSIS has also taken important steps to provide food safety education to citizens whose first language is not English. We recently participated, together with industry groups, in producing a series of international food safety icons for use in safe food handling. With the diversity of languages spoken by food handlers, we need pictorial representations of food safety tasks that can be understood regardless of a person’s native language. I am pleased that FSIS was one of the many participants in this project.
Goal #5-The fifth goal is to protect meat, poultry, and egg
products against intentional contamination. (Slide
18) Since the attacks on September 11, FSIS has strengthened coordination
and preparation efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to food-related
emergencies resulting from acts of terrorism. We have also enhanced our programs
to ensure the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products that come to us from
other countries. With a strong food safety infrastructure already in place, FSIS
has been able to focus on strengthening existing programs.
(Slide 19)
Food safety and
security does not stop at national borders. With the global food supply, we are
interdependent on each other. The way food is traded has a tremendous impact on
the health of populations. In the old days, foods were traded locally, and so,
if those foods were contaminated, foodborne illness that developed remained a
local problem. Now, the world is truly shrinking. Increasing international trade
has meant that a greater variety of foods are available to the world’s
population. This expansion reach in food distribution, which has resulted in
improved nutrition, has also meant that a greater probability exists for unsafe
food, either intentionally or unintentionally contaminated, to reach a large
population. One group that is addressing problems such as these is the Codex
Alimentarius Commission. Codex is the major international mechanism for
developing international food safety standards and provides for the exchange of
information and ideas related to food safety. The U.S. Codex Office is located
in the Food Safety and Inspection Service at USDA and we are proud to be active
members of this important forum.
(Slide 20)
Now that I have given
you an idea of where we have been, I’d like to outline several new initiatives
FSIS is undertaking to continue the progress we’ve made to date.
I will begin with our recently established New Technology Office, that will
expedite the implementation of safe interventions at slaughter and processing
establishments. (Slide 21)
When we
completed our risk assessment for Listeria in ready-to-eat products, it
struck me how important interventions are in mitigating risk. I believe that we
must encourage innovations in safe and effective interventions, and one way FSIS
can do this is to ensure that we facilitate the process.
Our New Technology staff is an experienced team of 12 who will serve as the single portal for all new technology submissions. We designed this group to better mange the new technology process and allow for fast track implementation. They are also making sure that all FSIS personnel are aware of new technologies and where they are being used.
To increase the pool of new technology submissions, we will be developing a New Technology website where parties may submit their information on line. In the interim, we have established an e-mail address, FSISTechnology@fsis.usda.gov, for interested groups to learn more about how to have their products or ideas considered.
Retooling training and education programs for all employees is a second initiative for 2003. FSIS recognizes the importance of this initiative for the consistent enforcement of its regulations.
(Slide 22)
FSIS has crafted a
two-fold plan to enhance workforce training. First, all training programs for
all employees will be updated to incorporate a public health focus by
integrating scientific and technical principles, including HACCP validation.
Training on technical and regulatory approaches to inspection, and use of
enforcement responses, such as suspension of inspection, will be included where
appropriate.
(Slide 23)
Second, FSIS is moving
to a system of delivering training that is as close to the employee’s worksite
as possible. This will involve regional training and regional trainers, as well
as interactive sessions near the employee's work site and on-site training
programs.
Some of the training, particularly training involving new technologies and methodologies, will be carried out in conjunction with the regulated industry. In this way, both processors and inspectors share in the knowledge gained about the science behind the FSIS regulations, and how they must be applied to improve public health.
(Slide 24)
Next is risk assessment
coordination. We have established a Food Safety Risk Assessment Committee with
USDA-wide membership. Risk assessments allow us to focus resources on those
hazards along the farm-to-table continuum that pose the greatest risk to public
health. Each member of this committee brings a specific expertise to ensure that
our research, regulatory and public outreach resources achieve the greatest
public health benefit and avoid redundancies.
The need for such a committee is growing as risk assessment becomes more and more important as a means of providing the science behind policy decisions. Microbial risk assessment is still in its infancy compared to chemical risk assessments, so the need to share ideas and resources is even more critical.
The group has already had its first meeting and the results have been exciting. We’re finding there is a lot of interest in working together, and a lot of opportunities to rely on each Agency’s expertise to make the entire risk assessment process go much more smoothly.
We also will be holding a public meting on risk analysis in early November. As we make progress in conducting risk assessments, we must also move forward in integrating the three components of risk analysis – risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication.
(Slide 25)
Next, FSIS is working
with the Research, Education, and Extension mission area at USDA to coordinate
food safety research priorities and needs. A public meeting was held in Colorado
last month, to help initiate the development of a unified research agenda to
complement industry and academic research, as well as encourage external
research directed toward this unified agenda. We are in the process of sifting
through all the research needs that were presented at that meeting, and expect
to have a document detailing USDA’s research objectives in food safety by this
fall.
The challenge for the future will be to transfer research results to practical use. A good example is the reduction of E. coli O157:H7 before cattle reach the slaughter plant. Much research has been done, but definitive steps that work in real life are still lacking.
(
Slide 26) Speaking of pre-harvest
food safety, next, in consultation with livestock producers, researchers, and
other stakeholders, FSIS is developing a list of best management practices for
animal production facilities such as feedlots to provide guidance in reducing
pathogen loads before slaughter. FSIS will hold a symposium this September as a
foundation for the development of guidelines that can be followed at the feedlot
by producers to minimize carriage of human pathogens by food animals.
(Slide 27)
FSIS is making plans to
conduct continuous baseline studies to determine the nationwide prevalence and
levels of various pathogenic microorganisms in raw meat and poultry. In the
past, limited baseline studies have been used to establish performance
standards. While these performance standards have not been directly correlated
with public health outcomes, they are an important part of verifying the
sanitary operation of meat and poultry establishments.
The new baseline studies will take into account regional variation, seasonality and other critical factors. The continual nature of the baseline studies will provide both benchmark information on the national trends and a tool to assess performance of initiatives designed to reduce the level and prevalence of pathogens in meat and poultry products. These baseline studies will also feed into risk assessments that support regulatory initiatives for reducing foodborne illness. These surveys will be important in establishing the link between foodborne disease and ecological niches, as well as levels and incidence of pathogens in meat and poultry. The net result will be more targeted interventions and effective elimination of sources of foodborne microorganisms.
(Slide 28)
And finally, a strong
system of checks and balances is important to an effective food safety system.
FSIS will continue to review authorities and regulations and will continue to
work with interested parties to modernize and further enhance its compliance
efforts.
So far I’ve spoken about what we’ve accomplished and what’s on the near
horizon. Now let’s discuss how we can achieve the next level of the Food Safety
Vision. (Slide 29)
(Slide 30)
The next level of the
Food Safety Vision involves the ability to predict, or anticipate, problems as
much as possible before they arise. Toward this effort, FSIS intends to identify
hazards early by analyzing prevalence and enforcement data, coupled with
ensuring that the right corrective actions are taken promptly to minimize risks
to public health.
Through analysis and discussions with stakeholders, FSIS has identified three issues that need to be addressed if FSIS is to attain this next level of public health protection.
(Slide 31)
To anticipate hazards
involving meat and poultry products, FSIS must have the best available data to
clearly identify the extent and nature of these hazards, in order to determine
and calibrate an effective response. These data consist of FSIS’ regulatory
samples, as well as samples collected by food processing establishments. Thus,
there is a need to improve access to, and analysis of, food safety data from all
reliable sources. I believe that such anticipatory activities are a key
component of prevention, and recognize that if we are to break the cycle of
foodborne illness, consistent and thorough data analysis must take place. Here
is where industry and government can work together, since it is in all of our
best interest to avail ourselves of as much information as possible so that
outbreaks and recalls can be prevented.
(Slide 32)
FSIS recognizes the
need to better document food safety problems as they occur, in order to analyze
conditions that should be corrected in its science-based approach to pathogen
reduction. For example, a better understanding of the prevalence and causes of
food safety failures could allow FSIS to assess how best to address them. Data
regarding the causes of food safety violations, either within a specific
establishment, or within a class, can be utilized in order to better focus
prevention and regulatory enforcement strategies. Just like with microbiological
sampling data, the types and frequencies of enforcement actions taken can help
us determine where our resources need to be focused, so that we don’t waste
efforts and instead apply a greater emphasis where they can be most productive.
(Slide 33)
FSIS has made great
strides in preventing foodborne illness, which CDC has attributed in part to the
implementation of HACCP. However, there still is a need to determine how
specific policies affect public health. We must be able to connect the
occurrence of specific pathogens in specific foods to the occurrence of human
foodborne illness, and FSIS is working with CDC’s National Center for Infectious
Diseases to design and support studies that enable such connections to be made.
As you can see, what I have laid out for you is not rocket-science. But it is science, and it is with this approach in mind, that we will continue our efforts to improve public health. The Agency intends to engage the scientific community, public health experts and all interested parties in an effort to identify science-based solutions with public health outcomes. It is FSIS’ intention to pursue such a course of action in the coming months, in as transparent and inclusive a manner as possible. The resulting strategies will help FSIS continue to reach its goals and achieve its mission of reducing foodborne illness.
(Slide 34)
I look forward to your
comments on the vision paper. As members of an industry whose creations have
been named in the top 10 inventions of the 20th century, overcoming
challenge with innovation is nothing new for you. Together, we can meet the food
safety challenges I’ve mentioned.
The Agency welcomes the input of all interested parties and encourages the free exchange of ideas as it continues to work to enhance the safety of the food supply. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you today.
For Further Information:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-3897
Fax: (202) 720-5704