Consumers See Government Inspection as Most Credible Signal of Food Safety: Study

(Food In Canada)

Study also finds that food recalls affect how consumers shop and what attributes they look for

Consumers value several attributes when it comes to their food, but the most important – a study has found – is safer and healthier food, inspected by a government body. The new study, called Food Safety Certification: A Study of Food Safety in the U.S. Supply Chain, was conducted by Michigan State University (MSU).

The research found that consumers are quite aware of food safety issues and change their shopping habits because of them. In fact, nearly half of the consumers surveyed had done so, says Chris Peterson, director of MSU’s Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources.

But what’s also interesting, the study reports, is that consumers don’t see higher prices and brand names as indicators of safer food. Read more here.

Food Safety Legislation Won’t Mend Regulatory Divide

(Chicago Tribune – P.J. Huffstutter and Andrew Zajac)

Next week’s Senate hearing on the Iowa egg recalls could shed new light on the confusing separation of powers between the FDA and the USDA. As lawmakers prepare for hearings into the largest egg recall in U.S. history, food safety advocates say the congressional probe could give momentum to a long-delayed measure that would enhance the power of the Food and Drug Administration.

If passed, say policymakers, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act could be the first major step toward streamlining the often unwieldy food safety system.

Lawmakers will grapple with the circumstances surrounding the recall this week in a congressional probe of the outbreak of salmonella enteritidis that has sickened more than 1,500 people. Read more here.

Senator Says He Will Hold Up Food Safety Bill

(FoodNavigator.com – Caroline Scott-Thomas)

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has said he intends to hold up food safety legislation that has been stalled in the Senate since last November, as there is no indication of how it would be funded. “Without paying for this bill, at best we are just passing it for a press release, and at worse, we shackle the FDA with unfunded mandates,” Coburn said in a document published on his website on Wednesday.

Supporters of the Food Safety Modernization Act have been pushing to get the bill on the Senate’s agenda as soon as possible, particularly in the wake of the nationwide egg recall that has sickened at least 1,500 people. They claim that the bill is necessary to strengthen the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), giving it authority to order recalls, and requiring better recordkeeping from food manufacturing facilities. Read more here.

Egg Recall Renews Calls for Movement on Food Safety Legislation

(FoodNavigator.com – Caroline Scott-Thomas)

A massive multi-state recall of salmonella-tainted shell eggs has led to renewed calls for food safety legislation to move forward in the Senate, as the number of related illnesses looks likely to grow, according to officials.

The recall covers an estimated 380 million in-shell eggs – and products made from them – from Iowa-based Wright County Egg. The recall affects food retailers, distributors and foodservice companies that distribute eggs nationwide, but does not directly affect commercial food manufacturers, as eggs must be pasteurized for commercial food use.

Food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest Caroline Smith DeWaal said in a statement: “This outbreak demonstrates the need for a food safety cop-on-the-beat. FDA needs a strong inspection force with the tools to mandate recalls, impose civil and criminal penalties, and require testing at farms and production facilities. The agency should be able to impose fines for violations when they find them, detain and recall food, and impose enhanced criminal penalties when companies intentionally violate the law, resulting in harm to the public. The Senate should move immediately to pass S. 510 and Congress should move a bill that incorporates the strongest enforcement provision of each bill promptly to the President’s desk for signature.”

The Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) is currently pending consideration in the Senate after it unanimously passed committee in November. A companion bill, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, passed through the House in July last year. Read more here.

Consumer Product Safety Commission Inspectors Now Responsible for Enforcement of Product Safety Laws at U.S. Ports of Entry

(Robin E. Harvey and Lourdes Perrino, Baker & Hostetler LLP)

Beginning mid-June, 2010, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been posting inspectors at U.S. ports of entry for the purpose of enforcing product safety statutes and regulations. Before, screening always had been performed by Customs inspectors, who could call in CPSC inspectors when they thought it necessary or appropriate.

Containers are being seized at both air and sea ports, requiring importers and customs brokers to produce general conformity certificates for all products and product testing compliance certificates for products specifically identified under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) as requiring specialized testing for lead and phthalate content. So far, reports from the field indicate that seized goods are being released almost immediately after the proper certificates are produced. However, seized products not intended for use by children and not tested in conformity with CPSIA requirements are being detained by the CPSC as alleged non-conforming goods, until inspectors are satisfied that the seized goods should not be considered children’s products. Importers and customs brokers benefit from having on hand documentation to support the position that seized merchandise are not children’s products. […]

Impact of CPSC Agents at U.S. Ports

The addition of an agency charged with vigilance at U.S. ports and armed with new powers and penalties may cause concern for foreign exporters and for importers, especially in the handling of Chinese goods because goods from China triggered these developments. Certainly the general move to greater vigilance and penalties was intended to persuade exporters and importers alike to be more vigilant themselves. In addition, despite the increased budget and staffing, the CPSC remains shorthanded for its new tasks. It has been able to deploy only a small number of inspectors at each of the ten largest ports in the U.S.

Importers and exporters might deduce that consumer goods and food will be delayed at major ports. So far, that concern would be misplaced. Early reports from New York’s Kennedy International Airport and the port at Savannah GA indicate that release of detained goods generally has been prompt. The key is to have the proper documentation ready. Inspectors are proving cooperative and responsible. They are not bottling up goods unnecessarily, but they do represent a greater commitment in the United States to protect against unsafe products being imported from other countries. Read more here.

Pilot Project on Food Traceability Proves Successful

(Food in Canada)

17 participants in an Ontario-based pilot project meet all the criteria

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has deemed a pilot project on facility level traceability a highly successful endeavour. The Food Safety Initiative (FSI) – Traceability Pilot Project, which included 20 small to medium size operations, began in June 2007. The Agriculture Policy Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, provided the funding.

The aim of the pilot project, says OMAFRA, was to:

• Demonstrate implementation of facility level traceability in a variety of agri-food operations across the province (one-step-forward, one-step-back traceability);

• Increase the provincial agri-food industry’s understanding and adoption of traceability;

• Collect data on the operational and economic costs and benefits of facility level traceability; and

• Use learnings to develop educational materials on facility level traceability and provide training opportunities to stakeholders .

The 20 operations included nine on-farm operations (from cattle to greenhouse vegetables) and 11 food-processing operations (from cheese manufacturing and meat processing to wineries). The pilot facilities did also receive some help. OMAFRA says they received 75 per cent of eligible costs up to a maximum of $20,000. Read more here.

Canadian Standards Recognized Internationally

(Food in Canada)

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has announced that the On-Farm Food Safety Program (OFFS) known as the CanadaGAP (Good Agricultural Practices) program has been successfully benchmarked against GFSI’s requirements.

CanadaGAP, which is administered and maintained by the Canadian Horticultural Council, is geared to fresh fruit and vegetable producers and packers. The program consists of national food safety standards and a certification system for the safe production, storage and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables.

It’s been recognized by GFSI for certification options B and C and the recognition covers the common food safety requirements that run through the six different commodity specific modules. This benchmarking process has been completed using an internationally accepted set of food safety requirements, based on industry best practice and sound science, which are developed through a consensus building process by key stakeholders in the food supply chain. These requirements can be found in the GFSI Guidance Document Version 5. Read more here.

Precaution Should Be Watchword of FDA, Says IOM

(FoodNavigator.com – Jane Byrne)

The Food and Drug Administration is not currently equipped to handle food safety problems and needs to switch to a risk based system, argues a report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

The committee that wrote the report states that the FDA’s abilities to discover potential threats to food safety and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness are hindered by limited resources and a piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks.

Calls to overhaul America’s food safety system intensified last year on the back of a spate of multi-state foodborne illness outbreaks. Support from food manufacturers also strengthened after the salmonella outbreak linked to peanut products led to more than 700 illnesses and nine deaths, as well as one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history, at an estimated cost of at least $1bn. Read more here.

Related: FDA Chief: Agency Is Committed to Improving on Food Safety Issues (PBS Newshour)

U.S.-Based Food Safety Training for Foreign Food Manufacturers

(FoodNavigator.com – Caroline Scott-Thomas)

The University of Maryland and Waters Corporation have partnered to open a facility in Maryland to train foreign food manufacturers and scientists in methods of analysis to help them meet US food safety standards.

The International Food Safety Training Laboratory (IFSTL) will be run by the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), a new collaboration between the University of Maryland and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The IFSTL is expected to open next year.

Imports account for about 15% of the total US food supply, including 60% of fresh fruit and vegetables and 80% of seafood. According to the Government Accountability Office, there are about 189,000 registered foreign sites where food is made for sale in the United States, but the FDA only inspects a tiny fraction of them – just 153 in 2008. Read more here.

Legislative Update: Senate Looks to Food Safety, Sponsors Seek to Move China Bill

(World Trade Interactive)

A number of trade-related measures are currently working their way through the legislative process. A bill to overhaul the U.S. food safety system could come up for a vote in the Senate by the end of this month. Standing in the way is a financial reform bill that includes a provision that could increase enforcement efforts against violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And supporters of legislation addressing the value of China’s currency are looking to add it to another bill moving through Congress, possibly a jobs bill lawmakers could take up later this summer.

Food Safety:
Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, continue to say they are working to have the Senate approve a food safety reform bill by the end of May.

China:
Supporters of legislative action against China’s alleged manipulation of the value of its currency say they remain intent on sending a measure to the president this year and that they are searching for an appropriate legislative vehicle. According to Inside US Trade, one such measure could be an upcoming bill to increase domestic employment. Other options are being discussed as well.

Free-Trade Agreements:
There continues to be little movement on the pending FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama, and there appear to be few prospects for action in the near future. Inside US Trade cited informed sources as saying that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin told Colombian Trade Minister Luis Plata recently that over the last four years Colombia has made “no progress” in improving its labor rights situation, the key issue that has held up consideration of the Colombia FTA in Congress. The White House, meanwhile, has still given Colombia no indication of the benchmarks it should meet to help move the FTA forward.

There have been sporadic reports that Congress could take up the Panama FTA after the elections in November. According to CongressDaily, Panamanian ambassador to the U.S. Jaime Aleman said recently that his country is working to address U.S. lawmakers’ outstanding concerns so that a vote could take place at that time. “We have made substantial movement on the labor front,” the article quoted Aleman as saying, “and we have implemented or are in the process of implementing all of the changes” needed to remove Panama from a list of tax havens maintained by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Read the complete article at WTA here.

FDA Seeks Industry Comments on Food Safety During Transport

(FoodNavigator-USA.com – Caroline Scott-Thomas)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on establishing guidance intended to reduce the risk of food contamination during transportation. The agency has asked the food industry to comment on rule proposals to govern the transportation of foods in the United States, as well as calling for comments from the transportation sector and consumer interest organizations. […]

FDA’s associate commissioner for food protection, Jeff Farrar said: “Our aim is to look at every component of the system to assess hazards, and to take science-based action where appropriate to maximize the safety of our food from farms all the way to consumers’ tables. Although contamination of food product during commercial transport is relatively infrequent, the potential harm can be widespread and serious.”

Read more here. The advance notice of proposed rulemaking – and instructions on how to comment – is available online here. The comment period is due to close on August 30, 2010.

Canada Pledges Investment in Food Safety

(Food Safety News – Alexa Nemeth)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) Food Safety Enhancement Program government/industry steering committee met last week to discuss the progress of various CFIA food safety initiatives.

In response to a 2008 Listeria outbreak among Maple Leaf Foods customers, the Canadian Government has committed nearly $500 million to improving the delivery of food safety programs by federal departments. The Weatherill Report, an independent investigation into the outbreak released in July 2009, provided the Canadian government with 57 recommendations to further enhance food safety oversight in Canada.

In September 2009, the Government committed to act on all 57 recommendations of the Weatherill Report, and at last week’s meeting pledged to spend approximately $223.4 million in three key areas: reducing food safety risks through prevention, enhancing surveillance and oversight, and improving emergency response. Read more here.

U.S. Legislative Update: Food Safety Could Move Soon as China, Preference Reform Loom

(World Trade Interactive)

Trade issues are expected to take a higher profile in Congress this year as the Obama administration makes trade policy a key part of its effort to add domestic jobs and encourage an economic recovery. Seeking to improve the balance of trade with China and to open foreign markets by implementing and negotiating free trade agreements are among the issues that have seen greater attention from both the administration and Congress. In the meantime, a food safety reform bill could pass Congress as early as this spring.

Food and Product Safety:
No major product safety legislation is expected this year given that both Congress and the administration are continuing to deal with implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act passed in 2008. However, efforts to revise the CPSIA in light of some of the difficulties identified to date are a possibility, as are measures to address emerging product safety concerns such as the replacement of lead with cadmium in children’s toys and products.

Instead, it is anticipated that lawmakers will focus their attention on finalizing a comprehensive bill to reform federal food safety efforts. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved its version of a food safety bill last November, following the House of Representatives’ approval in July of a somewhat different bill. HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said recently that he hopes to pass a food safety bill and send it to the White House by May.

China:
President Obama has indicated that urging China to revalue its currency will be a part of his administration’s efforts to increase domestic employment. Congress has taken a leading role on this issue in the past; e.g., introducing legislation that would have imposed retaliatory tariffs on all imports from China unless the yuan was revalued. While that option appears to have fallen out of favor for the most part, members of both the House and Senate have been raising the currency issue and suggesting specific remedies more frequently. The issue could take on an even higher profile in April depending on whether the Treasury Department names China as a currency manipulator in its semiannual report on foreign exchange rate practices.

Read the complete summary of pending legislative changes at STR/WTI here.

FDA Targets Processing of Spices in Bid to Make Supply Safer

(The Washington Post – Lyndsey Layton)

The Food and Drug Administration is reexamining the safety of a culinary staple found in every restaurant, food manufacturing plant and home kitchen pantry: spices. In the middle of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness linked to black and red pepper – and after 16 U.S. recalls since 2001 of tainted spices – federal regulators met last week with the spice industry to figure out ways to make the supply safer.

Jeff Farrar, the FDA’s associate commissioner for food safety, said the government wants the spice industry to do more to prevent contamination. That would include using one of three methods to rid spices of bacteria: irradiation, steam heating or fumigation with ethylene oxide, a pesticide. The bottom line is, if there are readily available validated processes out there to reduce the risk of contamination, our expectation is that they will use them,” Farrar said. But the FDA cannot currently require it.

Legislation pending in Congress would require food companies to take steps, such as treating raw spices, to avoid contamination. The measure would also mandate that importers verify the safety of foreign suppliers and imported foods. The House overwhelmingly approved the bill last year, but it has stalled in the Senate. […]

In developing countries, many spices are harvested by farmers from small plots of land or grown wild and gathered from different areas, where pollution and water problems can create contamination hazards.

“You can import shoes, tables, lamps and chairs from anywhere in the world and you kind of know what you’re going to get,” said Paul Kurpe of Elite Spice Inc. in Jessup, Md. “But when you import food, you’re importing their habits, traditions and their standards of food safety.”

Some say the spate of recalls over the past decade does not necessarily mean the contamination problem is growing. “In the last 15 years, food safety is just at an increasingly higher level of awareness,” Harris said. “We’ve got increased testing, increased detection methods. I don’t think what we’re seeing is necessarily a true increase in prevalence. I think it’s an increase in our ability to detect.” Read more here.

FDA Changes Course on Food Labeling

(Food Safety News – Zach Mallove)

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released 17 warning letters to food manufacturers, accusing the companies of violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic act with false product labeling. The action follows an October 2009 "dear industry letter" from FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg advising food companies to provide consumers with more accurate information on food packages. The immediate focus of the FDA’s action is on "front-of-pack" labels, or labels designed to grab consumers’ attention by making claims of health or nutrition on the front of food packages.

In conjunction with the FDA’s warnings, Hamburg published an open letter to the industry on March 3 questioning current labeling practices. Many label claims may not help consumers distinguish healthy food choices from less healthy ones, she said, and some claims are outright false or misleading. As a result, the FDA sent warning letters to 17 food manufacturers, following through on its promise to crack down on front-of-pack labeling. This marks the first time the agency has done so under President Barack Obama. Read more here.

New DHS Center to Ensure Safety of Imported Goods

(World Trade Interactive)

The Department of Homeland Security announced December 8 the creation of the Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center, a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility designed to streamline and enhance federal efforts to address import safety issues.

The CTAC will combine the resources and manpower of CBP and other government agencies – including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety Inspection Service – to protect the U.S. public from unsafe imported products by improving communication and information-sharing and reducing redundant inspection activities.

The new facility will be headed by and located adjacent to CBP’s Office of International Trade in Washington, D.C. Approximately 30 personnel representing all of the participating agencies will work at the CTAC. Find out more about the CTAC here.

U.S. Food Safety Likely to Get Overhaul in 2010

(Reuters)

A U.S. Senate committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to increase government oversight of food safety but the first significant overhaul in 50 years may not happen until 2010.

Pressure to overhaul the food safety system has grown following several high-profile outbreaks involving lettuce, peppers, peanuts and spinach since 2006 that have sickened thousands and killed several.

However, the full Senate probably won’t vote on the bill until 2010 as Congress is currently mired in debate about overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, said Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "I really, honestly, I just don’t see how we’ll get to it before Christmas," Harkin said of the food safety bill.

The Senate bill would expand U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of the food supply and shift its focus toward preventing, rather than reacting, to foodborne outbreaks. FDA would have the power to order recalls, increase inspection rates and require all facilities to have a food safety plan. Read more here.

CFIA: Changes to Import Notification Requirements

(CFIA)

As part of the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment to food safety, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is initiating new import notification requirements for selected commodities regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations.

The intent of this initiative is to improve the availability of information to assist in the identification and tracking of food products in the event of a food safety issue and is not designed nor intended to impede the trade of safe food products.

In order to facilitate this initiative, the new import notification requirements will be implemented in a phased-in approach starting with 14 priority commodities. These commodities will be coded using the International Harmonized System code (HS code) and CFIA’s Automated Imported Reference System (AIRS) Codes.

The commodities identified in Table 2 and their corresponding HS codes will be added to the CFIA’s HS Code Filter List. This will require importers to identify these products by using the HS Code and CFIA AIRS extension as outlined in Table 2. Additional commodities will be added in future in priority sequence. The latest CFIA HS Code filter list is available here.

Effective March 15, 2010, Importers/Brokers will be expected to notify the CFIA of the commodities listed in Table 2 via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) using the updated HS codes and CFIA AIRS extension. Failure to do so may result in CBSA rejecting the release request.

The extended implementation time is designed to allow those importers/brokers who currently do not have an EDI profile to apply for one, and to develop and test the compatibility of their data systems with the CFIA. To obtain an EDI profile, importers/brokers are required to complete the application and testing processes with both CBSA ACROSS Phase III and then with the CFIA. The CFIA Automated Import System (AIS) Participant’s Information Document provides more information on EDI and becoming a CFIA EDI client.

To obtain a copy of this document:
CFIA EDI Coordinator: EDICoordination@inspection.gc.ca
Phone: 613-773-5322

Any questions regarding this notice should be directed to the Area Import Coordinator in your region. Their contact information is in Table 1.

FDA Opens the Reportable Food Registry Electronic Portal for Industry

(FlexNews – USFDA)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a new way to head off potential cases of foodborne illness – the Reportable Food Registry (RFR) , where food industry officials must use to alert the FDA quickly, through an electronic portal when they find their products might sicken or kill people or animals.

The requirement, a result of legislation, took effect with the launch of the portal.

Facilities that manufacture, process or hold food for consumption in the United States now must tell the FDA within 24 hours if they find a reasonable probability that an article of food will cause severe health problems or death to a person or an animal.

The reporting requirement applies to all foods and animal feed regulated by the FDA, except infant formula and dietary supplements, which are covered by other regulatory requirements. Some examples of reasons a food may be reportable include bacterial contamination, allergen mislabeling or elevated levels of certain chemical components.

The opening of the RFR electronic portal reflects a fundamental principle of the President’s Food Safety Working Group that “preventing harm to consumers is our first priority.” Read more here.

FDA Vows Safety Crackdown

(CBC)

The Food and Drug Administration’s new chief promised Thursday to crack down on food and drug companies that break the law, as the agency tries to regain its footing after a string of high-profile safety problems.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said her agency must act more swiftly and aggressively against companies that don’t meet safety standards.

In recent years, the agency’s efforts “have been hampered by unreasonable delays” that allowed safety violations to go unaddressed, Hamburg told an audience of food and drug industry lawyers.

The FDA has struggled for years to keep up with its rising responsibilities to oversee health care and food products. Since early 2008, the agency has been criticized for its handling of tainted peanut butter that sickened hundreds, contaminated blood thinners imported from China linked to deaths, and an investigation into a salmonella outbreak that dragged on for weeks before peppers were identified as the culprit. Read more here.