Foodservice operators cheer FDA's new HAACP seafood-safety program; measures to boost safer supply, consumer confidence

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 8, 1996 by Robin Lee Allen

WASHINGTON -- Foodservice operators applauded new government regulations intended to improve the safety of seafood products by requiring all seafood processors to institute HACCP -- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point -- programs in the next two years.

Although operators will not be affected directly by the new Food and Drug Administration rules, they said they welcomed any measures that create a safer seafood supply and boost consumer confidence in it.

"The effects are going to mostly hit our suppliers," said Ed O'Neill, senior director of quality assurance for Long John Silver's, the 1,500-unit quick-service seafood chain based in Lexington, Ky.

"And for major suppliers it will be relatively minor," he continued. "We require our suppliers to have HACCP already, so it isn't going to have a huge effect on us."

Even smaller restaurateurs were cautiously enthusiastic.

"I think it's great what they want to do with this," said Nancy Longo, who is chefowner of the Pierpoint Restaurant in Baltimore and was once a victim of seafood poisoning. "It'll supposedly clean up the guys on the side of the road, selling fish."

But, she added, "they have to have enough inspectors to take the guts [of the new regulations] and make it happen. And they have to educate folks so they understand that if they don't take care of these things properly, this is what will happen to them."

FDA officials project the new rules will prevent 20,000 to 60,000 seafood poisonings annually and save consumers up to $116 million yearly in medical costs.

"A system that will ensure the safety of seafood products, regardless of what country or environment they come from, is a high public-health priority," said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala.

Unlike the current inspection system, which is largely reactive to problems after they occur, the new system is intended to be proactive by requiring seafood processors to identify and continuously monitor production steps where the likelihood of safety hazards occurring is greatest. Such hazards include toxins, chemicals, pesticides and decay.

Processors will be required to show records of their HACCP plan to FDA inspectors, which will mean more comprehensive surveillance by the agency than the spot checks of plants and end products now used.

"Our safety inspections should focus on preventing problems rather than chasing the horses after they're out of the barn," said FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler, M.D. "HACCP is a system that will make that possible."

Although fishing vessels, carriers and retailers are exempt from the regulations, processors are responsible for knowing where seafood products come from and their condition when they leave the plant. Special provisions have been written to address the processing of raw molluscan shellfish, like oysters, clams and mussels, and smoked fish.

FDA officials estimate that the new regulations will cost seafood suppliers about $70 million to $160 million to implement and $40 million to $80 million yearly to comply thereafter.

Despite this high price tag, even the seafood industry felt the investment would pay off in the long run.

"Many seafood companies have already implemented HACCP programs and found them to be cost-effective and of true benefit to customers," said Lee J. Weddig, executive vice president of the National Fisheries Institute, a Washington-based trade group representing about 1,000 seafood companies.

"While these are tough new requirements, the industry recognizes that they will strengthen the quality of seafood in the U.S. marketplace and enhance industry sales overseas."

Although consumer groups did not want to undermine the importance of the new FDA rules, they did voice some concerns, including the exemption of fishing vessels and the two-year timetable.

But, added Art Jaeger, communications director for Public Voice, "the biggest problem is beyond the FDA's control. And that is that it needs adequate resources to carry out the regulations properly."

He noted that the FDA has only a couple hundred inspectors charged with keeping tabs on nearly 6,000 processors.

"Despite that, we still think this is a very significant step forward," Jaeger said. "The existing inspection system relies on the ability to see or smell a problem, and that's clearly inadequate."

Regardless of the changes to come, operators noted that they still carry the burden of protecting their customers from bad seafood products.

To that end, Long John Silver's trains suppliers in seafood safety, and company officials make frequent visits to trawlers and factories where their product is caught and processed, O'Neill said. In addition, all products are tested at one of the company's three seafood audit labs.

Pierpoint's Longo, whose menu is about 75-percent seafood, knows her suppliers well and buys a lot of farm-raised products.

"Chefs need to educate themselves on where product is coming from," she said. "I send it back if I don't like the way it looks. ... I don't want to be responsible for making someone sick."