Americans consume an incredible amount of imported foods. For shrimp, over 90% of what we consume is imported, for produce, 35%, and some estimates claim that 20% of the total U.S. food supply is imported.1  Whether it’s caviar or truffles or bananas or cookies, we love our food choices, in season and out, and would be devastated if our imported food supplies suddenly dried up.  Yet whenever there is a food safety scare (E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, antibiotics), some Americans are quick to turn on “foreign foods” … READ MORE

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As the FDA launches its pilot program related to tracking high-risk foods, we are once again reminded of the ongoing difficulties FDA experiences when it comes to choosing between acting quickly and acting thoughtfully.  Think back to 2011’s food safety crises involving salmonella and E. coli. On numerous occasions, FDA was last to comment, often because they didn’t want to speak out of turn and provide inaccurate information.  At other times, however, they were simply scooped by the world’s mass media who, with … READ MORE

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Technology is central to the success (or even existence) of FDA’s food tracking and tracing pilot currently underway as part of FSMA’s new authority grant to the Agency.  If you have not read our first blog about the pilot conducted by FDA and IFT please read that here now.  What the statute accurately communicates but vastly underestimates is the difficulty and scale of the role of technology in the successful development of the program.   Sec. 204 2(B) of FSMA states that FDA … READ MORE

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently unveiled a new pilot program studying tracking and tracing technologies for high-risk foods. The pilot is contemplated in Sec. 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a legislative initiative aiming at reducing foodborne outbreaks and increasing the FDA’s ability to quickly identify and report outbreaks to the American public. In a post on the FDA’s Transparency Blog, Sherri McGarry, Senior Adviser, Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network Office of Foods at FDA, communicated her view of the importance of this pilot; “When a foodborne outbreak occurs, it is up to … READ MORE

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Imagine you’re a parent thinking about which private school to send your child to. You’re looking at School X and it seems like a great fit; it’s close, inexpensive, great teachers, etc… But as you peruse the school’s website you’re suddenly shocked to find a horrifying statistic. In 2008 the school had 20 students out sick, 40 students out in 2009 and then a whopping 80 students out sick last year! Looks like an epidemic! “There’s no way I’m sending my kid to that sick ward!” Looks like you just made your decision, right? But what’s the missing factor … READ MORE

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Recent statements from the CDC regarding food safety trends and statistics have been wildly reductionist and inconclusive. But they do provide us with hints about the future direction of federal government thinking with respect to managing food safety risks: Food tracking and supply chain tracing.

Enter the Digital Database Savior

“We need better – and more – information about what foods are causing outbreaks and where those foods are coming from,” said Hannah Gould, CDC epidemiologist, in a recent presentation. “Knowing more … READ MORE

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