26 September 2008

Business Leaders, Experts Call For Unified Food-Safety Standards

International trade system depends on a safe, global food-supply chain

Chemists in an FDA laboratory in New York prepare newly arrived samples of produce for analysis.

By Kathryn McConnell
Staff Writer

Washington — Increasing awareness of tainted food incidents is behind a call for unified, global food-safety standards, according to a group of specialists meeting in Washington September 18.

During the meeting, hosted by the Washington-based National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and Massachusetts-based Waters Corporation, representatives of the food industry, government and consumer groups discussed the challenges of global food safety.

"Ensuring the safety of the global food supply chain is critical to the strength of our international trading system," said NFTC President Bill Reinsch.

Henry Chin, director of global scientific and regulatory affairs for Coca-Cola Company, agreed that the lack of unified food-safety standards is "one of the biggest impediments to smooth commerce."

Focusing on the U.S. food-safety system, Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Colorado said even though the United States has the safest food safety system in the world, recent recalls "have undercut consumer confidence" in the safety of the U.S. food supply.

DeGette, vice chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, is calling for more authority and funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates most categories of imported and domestically produced food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat, poultry and egg products.

In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over FDA; the Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over USDA.

"By having an agency that is better able to monitor imports, set enforceable standards and prevent contamination, we will not only prevent illnesses but restore consumer confidence in the food industry," DeGette said.

The administration has requested Congress to approve a 5.7 percent budget increase for FDA for the fiscal year that begins October 1. The increase would allow FDA to focus on the most important food safety issues throughout the entire life cycle of foods, from production through consumption, according to FDA.

DeGette also is calling for food agencies to have mandatory recall authority, which would give them the power to quickly remove tainted food products from store shelves. Recalls of contaminated products are now voluntary.

FDA specialists at a spice warehouse in New Jersey ensure product information on the shipping labels matches the invoices.

A stronger food safety system "is in the best interest of consumers and businesses," DeGette said.

The congresswoman also is calling for a national, comprehensive food traceability system that would enable foods to be tracked through each stage of production, processing, packaging and delivery — known as "from farm to fork." She believes such a system would enable faster recalls.

DeGette wants responsibility for food safety regulation eventually to be combined in one agency, rather than being split between FDA and USDA. "It makes sense," she said.

LOOKING ABROAD

European Union Ambassador to the United States John Bruton urged countries to come together to achieve a strong, global food-safety system by agreeing to the same set of safety standards. More immediately, he said, countries could establish bilateral standards of equivalence, which is "accepting the idea that safe food can be produced by different combinations of measures."

Highly publicized cases of contaminated food and feed exports from China — the United States' third largest source of food imports — have put that country's regulatory system under scrutiny, say Linden Ellis and Jennifer Turner, authors of Sowing the Seeds: Opportunities for U.S.-China Cooperation on Food Safety. Their September report published by the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center, a research group, was discussed at the forum.

Ellis and Turner say the United States, the European Union and the international business community could use training and exchanges to help China develop the capacity at all levels of government to better protect food quality.

FDA Assistant Commissioner David Acheson said it is increasingly important to share inspection information with food safety regulators in other countries. He noted that industry partners in several countries, including China, are now alerting U.S. food safety agencies of cases of suspect contamination so action can be taken to block the product from entering the U.S. food supply.

Tres Bailey, Wal-Mart's senior manager of agriculture and food, said food safety is continuously evolving as new food products are being produced, new technologies developed, new risks emerge and countries engage in more trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Arkansas, is the world's largest grocer.

Bailey said that through the industry-founded Global Food Safety Initiative, food companies are promoting continuous improvement in food safety management to ensure consumer confidence.

The report Sowing the Seeds: Opportunities for U.S.-China Cooperation on Food Safety is available on the Wilson Center Web site.