The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have announced they are to jointly hold a public workshop in Washington DC on 30 March to decide how best to measure progress in reducing foodborne illnesses.
The decision comes on the back of calls from President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group for improved metrics to evaluate the government’s efforts in preventing foodborne illness.
Food safety is now a major political issue in the US, with the Produce Safety Project (PSP) estimating that acute foodborne illnesses cost the US economy US$152bn a year in a new study, which has provoked a strong reaction from the United Fresh Produce Association.
The agencies said the workshop will focus on current methods for evaluating food safety progress, the methodologic and data challenges involved, and the potential for improved metrics.
“To make our food safer, we must know as quickly as possible which foods are making people ill and why,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for food safety Jerold R. Mande. “This meeting will help us develop the specific measures we need to see which policies work best to improve food safety.”
The public workshop will also include explanations, by CDC, of how rates of foodborne illness are estimated for various purposes; for example, to determine overall rates of foodborne illness and rates for specific pathogens.
FDA, FSIS, and a state representative will describe other measurements they use to gauge the success of policies and other interventions for reducing foodborne illness.
“The data we collect and analyse can provide critical insights to guide our food safety programs; all stakeholders should understand how this information is best applied to advance food safety in the US,” explained Dr Rima Khabbaz, Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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