USDA releases a review of the agency's Food Safety initiatives

Food & Drink Weekly, July 19, 2004

USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa Murano on July 14 released Fulfilling the Vision: Initiatives in Protecting Public Health, a document that reviews recent developments and builds on the course USDA laid out last year to improve the prediction and response to food safety challenges in order to further reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.

In 2003, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman challenged the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to find creative and effective ways to continue to improve the safety of U.S. meat, poultry and egg products to better protect public health.

FSIS, the public health agency of USDA, and its workforce of over 7,600 inspection and veterinary personnel regulate the safety of these products in approximately 6,000 plants nationwide.

Fulfilling the Vision presents a list of accomplishments for 2003, which included, enhancement to BSE safeguards, the development of new FSIS employee training programs, strengthened food security measures and modernization of enforcement activities. The document also introduces several new initiatives to continue FSIS' mission of ensuring food safety. "We must use science to identify our greatest challenges and meet them head-on," Murano said. "Ensuring the safety of our food supply will require the active participation of everyone who produces, processes and prepares meat, poultry and egg products."

Murano noted that FSIS initiatives to combat E. coli O 157:H7 and Salmonella have resulted in significant reductions in illnesses from those organisms, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For example, the CDC recently reported that illnesses from E. coli O157:H7 dropped by 36 percent from 2002 to 2003. CDC's reported trends are also reflected in regulatory sampling for the pathogens done by the Agency.