By Anna Miller
Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), doesn’t usually like to overuse words or employ clichés.
But during a talk at the Jack Morton Auditorium hosted by GW’s School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS), May 19, Mr. Taylor used the word “historic” more than once as he discussed the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed into law by President Obama in January.
First, Mr. Taylor said, the law is historic in the most straightforward sense of the word: Its passage marks the first overhaul in more than 70 years of the “the basic statutory tool kit” used to combat foodborne illness.
According to Mr. Taylor, who is a former SPHHS research professor, the law also made history when it shifted the focus of food safety from reactive to preventive, and thus adopted a core public health principle.
Finally, he said, “FSMA is historic for the broad coalition of consumer and industry groups that made its enactment possible.” By uniting a range of important stakeholders, the law’s implementation and sustenance will be supported in an unprecedented way.
“Whether we look at today’s food safety challenges through the public health lens or through the lens of what it takes for the food industry to meet the high expectations of American consumers, we see the same basic principles,” he said.
In recent years, the American public has seen the effects of outdated food safety standards, as brands of peanut butter, eggs, pet food and infant formula were recalled for hosting dangerous bacteria like E. coli and salmonella, said Mr. Taylor. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these and other foodborne diseases make one in six Americans sick each year. Three thousand of them die.
By tightening food production and distribution requirements and enhancing the FDA’s ability to enforce these standards, FSMA seeks to combat this rampant public health problem, said Mr. Taylor. In the event that an outbreak or other issue is not prevented, the law also equips the FDA with better tools to respond. What’s more, FSMA helps the FDA hold imported food to the same standards as domestic food, and builds an integrated national food safety system among state and local authorities, he explained.
While he lauded FSMA’s structure, purpose and promise, Mr. Taylor admitted that the colossal size and dynamic nature of the food system make the law’s implementation no easy task. The growth, packaging, shipment, storage and marketing stages create numerous opportunities for hazards to enter the food supply. Further, the quantity and composition of food is constantly changing, as are the methods by which food is prepared. Even the pathogens themselves change structure over time.
Fortunately, said Mr. Taylor, FSMA’s framework is equally dynamic.
“From both a public policy and a private sector food safety management perspective, we must embrace this complexity and take a systems approach that addresses the food safety challenge from farm to table,” he charged. “And we must recognize that all of us —industry, government and consumers — have a role in preventing foodborne illness.”
Mr. Taylor’s remarks were followed by comments from Leon Bruner, senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs and chief science officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. During the discussion, which was moderated by SPHHS Dean Lynn Goldman, both panelists expressed passionate support of the new law.
“The industry’s perspective on safety is that a safe and reliable supply chain is critical to protect public health and also to the success of the industry,” said Dr. Bruner. “We are absolutely committed to do what we need to do to help make this very complicated problem a success.”
Ms. Smith reported overwhelming consumer support for the new legislation. Three out of four consumers surveyed, she said, would even back a price increase on products to make the law’s goals a reality.
“The bottom line here is that consumers have experienced far too many outbreaks and recalls…and these outbreaks have weakened consumer confidence in the system,” she said. “The new bill, with proper implementation by the FDA, will prevent those illnesses and will result in fewer outbreaks and recalls.”
To learn more about FSMA, visit www.fda.gov/fsma