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“Who’s Minding the Store? The Current State of
Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved”
Conference sponsored by Marler Clark and Stoel
Rives and presented by Seattle University School
of Law.
April 11, 2008
Dr. Richard A. Raymond
Under Secretary for Food Safety
U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
The Food Safety and Inspection Service’s
mission is to ensure that meat, poultry, and
processed egg products distributed in
commerce for use as human food are safe,
wholesome and accurately labeled.
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Statutory Authority
FSIS performs its food safety, public health and
food defense activities under four main acts:
• The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906,
• The Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957,
• The Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970, and
• The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958.
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Who Handles What?
 Food Safety and

Inspection Service
 Food and Drug
Administration

United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Hallmark/Westland and the Downer Rule
• Downer Rule went into
effect in 2004
– 2 Conditions:
• Under certain rare
inspections
• Animal acute injury
• Cattle were unfit, not
unsafe
• Recall not about food
safety, but about a
regulatory violation
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Interlocking System of Controls
to Protect the Food Supply
• 1997 Feed Ban by FDA
• 2004 Prohibition of Specified Risk Materials and
non-ambulatory cattle
• Ante-mortem inspection by FSIS veterinarians
• Surveillance program and testing
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli O157:H7
• Very successful meeting with more than 200
attendees
• Bold proposals
• Rally the industry to combat E. coli O157:H7
• Upcoming meeting: May 15-16; St. Louis, MO,
on outbreak investigations and response
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
FSIS and Import Safety
• FSIS has a strong system in place to ensure the
imported products we regulate are just as safe
as products produced in the U.S.
• FSIS regulated imports have remained stable
and more full time employees and Import
Surveillance Liaison Officers to handle the
imports
• Increased from 36,000 pounds of product set
aside to over 2.1 million pounds.
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
FSIS and Imported
Meat and Poultry Products
FSIS ensures the safety of imported products by:
• Determining the equivalence of foreign countries’ food
regulatory systems to ensure that they provide the same
level of protection as that of the United States;
• Having ongoing equivalence verified through periodic
audits in the foreign country; and
• Conducting the re-inspection of meat, poultry and egg
products at U.S. ports of entry.
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Listeria monocytogenes
3
2.5
2
1.5
Listeria
monocytogenes
1
0.5
0
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Listeria monocytogenes
0.5
0.4
0.3
Healthy People
2010 Goal
0.2
0.1
0
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Listeria Monocytogenes
1996-2006 FoodNet Foodborne Illness Incidence Data
(Cases per 100,000 persons)
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Results of Broiler Carcasses Analyzed
for Salmonella from 2001 to 2005
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Results of Broiler Carcasses Analyzed
by Quarter for Salmonella
from January 2006 to December 2007
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Jan Mar 06
Apr - Jul - Sep Oct Dec 06
06
Jun 06
Jan Mar 07
Apr - Jul - Sep Oct Dec 07
07
Jun 07
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Plant Categories based on Broiler Carcasses
Analyzed for Salmonella
80%
70%
60%
50%
2006
2007
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli O157:H7
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Percentage of Positive Regulatory Samples
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli O157:H7
3
2.5
2
Healthy People
2010 Goal
1.5
1
0.5
0
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
E. coli O157:H7
1996-2006 FoodNet Foodborne Illness Incidence Data
(Cases per 100,000 persons)
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
E. coli Recall and Illness Data
•
•
•
•
•
•
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
21 recalls, 2 with reported illness
12 recalls, 5 with reported illness
6 recalls, 3 with reported illness
5 recalls, 4 with reported illness
8 recalls, 0 with reported illness
21 recalls, 10 with reported illness
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Changes We Support
• Common Sense Goals:
– Implementing Public Health/Risk Based Inspection
• putting inspectors where they are most needed.
– Releasing the names of the stores that have sold
recalled products to consumers.
– Creating a practical solution to how we handle E. coli
positive boxed beef and carcasses.
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Changes We Oppose
• Mandatory Recall Authority
• Single Food Safety Agency
United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
• The state of public
health is constantly
evolving, and we can’t
allow ourselves to
stagnate. I’ve often
said it’s like riding a
bicycle; if you’re not
moving forward you’re
going to fall down.