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A crucial part of the nation’s rapid-reponse plan — the ability to trace food through the supply chain during an illness outbreak or bioterrorism attack — is seriously flawed, an independent watchdog agency has found.
Federal auditors found that nearly half the food manufacturers they surveyed that are supposed to register with the Food and Drug Administration failed to give the agency accurate contact information, according to a report to be released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general’s office.
Congress set up the program after the Sept. 11 attacks to keep food safe from bioterrorism and to allow quick tracebacks when contaminated food reaches consumers.
The report follows a series of high-profile food safety problems in the U.S. involving everything from disease-ridden ground beef to the largest peanut butter recall in history.
A key lawmaker called the findings “appalling.”

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New supply chain regulations designed to beef up the ‘farm to fork’ traceability of cattle, sheep and goats sent to slaughter will come into force in the UK from the beginning of next year.
Slaughterhouse operators and livestock keepers will be obliged to provide Food Chain Information (FCI) for all cattle sheep and goats from 1 January 2010 under new European Union legislation, the Food Standards Agency said yesterday. The regulation will apply to all those animals sent either directly to slaughter or sold through livestock markets.

The agency cautioned that once the new rules come into force, meat from cattle, sheep or goats without FCI information will not be passed for human consumption, as it urged slaughterhouse operators to prepare for the changes now.

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Federal auditors found that nearly half the food manufacturers they surveyed that are supposed to register with the Food and Drug Administration failed to give the agency accurate contact information, according to a report to be released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general’s office.

Companies that manufacture, process, pack or hold food that is eaten in the United States are required by federal law to provide their address and basic contact information to the FDA, so investigators can follow suspect foods through the supply chain.

After interviewing managers at a sample of 130 such companies, however, government investigators found that 48 percent didn’t give the agency accurate information. More than half were unaware companies had to register, and about a quarter provided no emergency contact information, because current rules don’t require it.

via barfblog.com

Federal food safety agencies held a two-day public meeting this week to discuss what kind of food traceability policies should be pursued to increase the speed and accuracy of foodborne illness and recall investigations.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the two bodies that share jurisdiction over the food supply, heard input from consumer advocates, the food industry, public health experts, and companies offering high-tech traceability solutions.

Though many different opinions were presented on tracing food from farm-to-fork, there was one thing everyone agreed on: we need to be better at it.

“Despite dedicated efforts, our capacity to trace tainted product is seriously limited,” Jerold Mande, deputy under secretary of food safety at USDA told the audience. “We often don’t have all the information we need to protect public health.”

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