The document discusses the USDA's efforts to ensure food safety through its Food Safety and Inspection Service. It oversees meat, poultry, and processed egg products. FSIS works with over 10,000 employees to inspect plants daily and respond to outbreaks. It also collaborates with the FDA and implements policies using science-based prevention approaches to target pathogens across the farm to table continuum. The goal is to modernize inspection techniques and better protect public health.
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Protecting Public Health through Food Safety
1. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Protecting Public Health
through Food Safety
Brian Ronholm
Deputy Under Secretary
for Food Safety
U.S. Department of Agriculture
2. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS)
• Protects public health by ensuring the safety and proper
labeling of the commercial meat, poultry, and processed
egg products supply
• 10,000 people – inspectors, scientists, veterinarians,
educators
• > 6,200 plants every day; 150 million head of livestock;
9 billion birds
• Outbreak response, enforcement, laboratory testing,
food defense, food safety education
3. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Foodborne Illness
• Sickens 48 million Americans every year
• Causes 128,000 hospitalizations
• Kills more than 3,000 people
• Costs Billions
• Is preventable
5. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
A Complex Challenge
• Inherent risk of products
• Markedly increased demand
• Changes in production, supply chain, distribution
• Changing epidemiology, microbial ecology
• Emerging pathogens, chemical hazards, novel vehicles
• Increased risk of intentional contamination
• Changing consumer expectations, demands
• Increasing at-risk population
7. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Interagency Collaboration
• President’s Food Safety Working Group
• Charged with improving U.S. food safety system
• Prioritizing Prevention; Enhancing Surveillance and
Enforcement; Improving Response and Recovery
• FoodNet
• Healthy People 2010/2020
• Outbreak Response
• Attribution (IFSAC)
8. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Food and Drug Administration
• Responsible for produce, dairy, seafood, other
foods
• Animal drugs, feed
• Food Safety Modernization Act
• Mandate for Prevention
• Greater oversight of imported food
• Mandatory Recall Authority
• Enhanced collaboration with public health agencies
9. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
FSIS FDA
Meat, Poultry Produce, Dairy, other foods
Catfish (future) Seafood
Egg Products Shell Eggs
Continuous, Daily Inspection Intermittent Inspection
No on-farm jurisdiction On farm- animal drugs, feed
Consumer Education Consumer Education
14. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
FSIS Regulatory Focus
FSIS regulates food safety for
• Red meat: Beef, veal, pork, minor species, raw
and ready to eat (RTE)
• Poultry: Chicken, turkey, minor species, raw and
RTE
• Processed egg: Dried, frozen and liquid (non-
intact)
17. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Food Safety Focus at USDA
• Prevention
• Tools
• People
• Based in Science
• Executed through Inspection
18. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Food Safety Focus at USDA:
In Action
• Implementing Prevention-Based Policies
• Strengthening Data Collection, Analysis,
and Use
• Leading a True Farm-to-Fork Effort
19. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Target Pathogens
Historical Regulatory Focus
• Salmonella – raw and RTE products
• Shiga toxigenic E. coli O157:H7 – raw beef (ground beef and
components)
• Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) – RTE products
Emerging Regulatory Focus
• Campylobacter – raw poultry
• Non-O157 shigatoxigenic E. coli – raw beef
Other pathogens and indicator bacteria
• Exploratory and investigative purposes
20. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Implementing Prevention-Based
Policies: Production Environment
• Beef Safety
• Changes to our testing programs
• Pushing prevention upstream in process
• Non – O157 STEC Policy
• Proactive Approach
• 113,000 Illnesses Annually
• Six additional strains of E. coli declared adulterants in
non-intact raw beef
• Effective March 2012
21. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Implementing Prevention-Based Policies
in the Production Environment
• Poultry Safety
• Tough new performance standards
• Understanding drivers of high human illness rates
• Ground Poultry Safety Initiatives
• Ready-To-Eat Safety
• Joint risk assessment
22. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Leading a True Farm-to-Fork Effort
• Consumer Education
• Ground Breaking - Food Safe Families
Campaign (Partnership with the Ad Council)
• Clean : Clean kitchen surfaces, utensils, and hands with
soap and water before and after preparing food.
• Separate : Separate raw meats from other foods by using
different cutting boards.
• Cook : Cook foods to the right temperature by checking
with a food thermometer.
• Chill : Chill raw and prepared foods promptly.
24. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Strengthening Data Collection, Analysis
and Use
• The Public Health Information System
• A robust data management and proactive decision-
making tool
• Automates and integrates multiple FSIS systems into
a single, comprehensive data system
• Facilitates information-sharing
• Identifies trends and anomalies before public is at
risk
25. United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Food Safety
Leading a True Farm-to-Fork Effort
• Pre-harvest Food Safety
• E. coli O157:H7 Guidance for beef slaughter
establishments
• Charge to National Advisory Committee on Meat
and Poultry Inspection
• Successful Public Meeting – November 9
• Cross Agency Working Group – One Health
About the Food Safety and Inspection Service Protects public health by ensuring the safety and proper labeling of the commercial meat, poultry, and egg products supply. 10,000 employees – inspectors, scientists, veterinarians, educators > 6200 plants every day; 150 million head of livestock; 9 billion birds Outbreak response, enforcement, laboratory testing, food defense, and food safety education. Works with the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other public health partners.
Foodborne IllnessFoodborne illness is a real public health challenge.1 in 6 Americans acquire a foodborne illness ever year. These illnesses are preventable. Foodborne illness is a public health challenge.
Young children and the elderly are the most vulnerable populations that can suffer from food-borne illness.
A Complex Challenge The modern food safety landscape is a complex one. We are charged with protecting a food supply that is drastically affected by: Inherent risk of the products we regulate.Markedly increased demand for food.Changes in production, the supply chain, and distribution.Changing epidemiology and microbial ecology.Emerging pathogens, chemical hazards, and novel vehicles.Increased risk of intentional contamination.Changing consumer expectations and demands.An increasing at-risk population.
What Are We Doing About It? For the past fifteen years, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has been evolving to treat foodborne illness as the public health challenge it is. We are turning a century-old inspection system into a modern, prevention-based model. Under this Administration, we have taken new, important steps to protect the food supply, and are fully embracing our identity as a 21st century public health regulatory agency.
Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC)FSIS on ResiduesPeople. We are training our field inspectors to administer in-plant chemical residue tests that provide information on a wider array of chemicals and with much quicker turnaround times.Tools. We are deploying new more sensitive methods that detect more chemical residues and managing the system so as to collect less specimens while increasing the number of tests we administer to each sample collected.Prevention. Faster results, with more sensitive methods, that cover more types of residues, administered on sample specifically collected with a sound statistical basis, provide for a more encompassing preventive action.
Food and Drug AdministrationResponsible for produce, dairy, seafood, other foodsAnimal drugs, feedFood Safety Modernization ActMandate for PreventionGreater oversight of imported foodMandatory Recall AuthorityEnhanced collaboration with public health agencies
FSIS and FDAHere you can see, side by side, what each agency regulates.
Visual on the jurisdictional difference.
FSIS Regulatory FocusHere you’ll see some of the specific types of products we’re focused on at FSIS. We have jurisdiction over processed eggs, FDA has jurisdiction over intact eggs.
Any attempt to unify the jurisdictions of FDA and USDA and create one food safety agency would require bipartisan legislation.
A significant barrier to overcome in creating one food safety agency is committee chairs would be reluctant to give up jurisdiction in any consolidation effort.
Food Safety Focus at USDA We have been focusing on three areas to improve the way we protect public health: prevention, tools and people. Prevention: If there is one way to describe all that is happening on the food safety regulatory landscape, it is this: We are focused on prevention.Food safety regulators reacted to food safety problems for too long. Now, we are working to get—and stay—ahead of them.Preventionis the very first priority of our agency. Tools: Focusing on the tools we need to build the best food safety system possible—from the tools our inspectors use on the line every day, to the regulatory and policy tools we have as an agency to keep food safe. PeopleThis is all about people: 300 million consumers, and our nearly 10,000 employees of FSIS. We understand that modern food safety is based in science and executed through inspection.
Food Safety Focus at USDA: In Action We are doing more than talking about the food safety system of the future; we are working to build it. We are implementing policies that put prevention first; strengthening the way we collect, analyze, and use data; and leading a true farm-to-fork effort.
Target PathogensThis slide is helpful because it shows you where our focus has been historically-and it will continue to be there-but also some emerging issues that we’re focusing on. Now I’ll focus on some of the things we’re doing to address these pathogens
Implementing Prevention-Based Policies We have been taking a critical look at our policies and asking ourselves, “Is this the best way to protect consumers and prevent foodborne illnesses?” We are working to better ensure the safety ofbeef by: Implementing changes to our testing programs: a “test and hold” policy that will reduce recalls, prevent illnesses and save lives. Pushing prevention upstream in the process.Non – O157 Policy Proactive Approach 113,000 Illnesses Annually due to Non-O157s 36,000 Illnesses attributed to beef Six new strains declared adulterants Effective March 2012
Implementing Prevention-Based Policies in the Production EnvironmentWe are working to better ensure the safety ofpoultry by: Implementing tough new performance standards: stronger standards for Salmonella, first ever standards for CampylobacterUnderstanding the drivers of high human illness rates: We need to figure out why human illness rates aren’t going down, despite fewer positive tests results We are working to better ensure the safety of ready-to-eat foods by: Conducting a joint risk assessment with FDA to understand the threat of Lm in these products. These steps will help us continue building a truly prevention-based food safety system.
Leading a True Farm-to-Fork EffortIt’s up to us and industry to make sure food is safe, but public education and outreach to consumers about the risk of harmful pathogens in their food is key to our work. Our national, multimedia public service campaign, Food Safe Families, launched this summer. Our goal is to educate consumers about the danger of foodborne illnesses and to motivate them to use four proven safe food handling behaviors: clean, separate, cook, and chill. We are committed to reducing foodborne illnesses, and that means we must work on the entire farm-to-fork continuum.
Strengthening Data Collection, Analysis, and Use We are strengthening the way we collect, analyze, and use data. Our Public Health Information System: is a robust data management and proactive decision-making tool; automates and integrates multiple FSIS data streams into a single, comprehensive data system; and facilitates information-sharing between inspectors and managers in the field and headquarters on a daily basis. When fully implemented, PHISwill help us gather and make better use of the enormous amount of data obtained in the more than 6,000 plants we regulate. That data, in turn, can help us make better decisions to keep food safe. We have to know what we are up against to fight it. Strengthening the way we collect, analyze, and use data will help us protect public health more efficiently and effectively.
Leading a True Farm-to-Fork Effort To be a prevention-based system, we must treat pathogens the way they occur: throughout the entire farm-to-table continuum. Pre-harvest food safety: We know the condition of animals at slaughter, the contamination rates on their hides and elsewhere, affect the risk that must be managed throughout the rest of the system. We’ve taken steps to address this: Releasing guidance to provide beef slaughter establishments with information on pre-harvest management controls that can help reduce E. coli O157:H7 shedding in cattle.Charging our National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection to explore options to prevent hazards from entering plants on source animals or products.Held a joint public meeting with our USDA partners at the Agricultural Research Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to determine other ways to promote pre-harvest food safety.
Summary Foodborne illness is a public health challenge, further complicated by the modern food safety landscape. To meet this challenge and to better protect public health through food safety, some of the actions we are taking at USDA are: implementing policies that put prevention first; strengthening the way we collect, analyze, and use data; and leading a true farm-to-fork effort. Thank you for inviting me this afternoon. I’m happy to take a few questions.