>Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 09:29:01 -0400
>To: promed-ahead at usa.healthnet.org
>Subject: PRO/AH> Food safety, new initiative - USA
>From: Dorothy Preslar <dpreslar at fas.org>
>Sender: owner-promed-ahead at usa.healthnet.org
>Reply-To: promed at usa.healthnet.org
>
>
>FOOD SAFETY, NEW INITIATIVE - USA
>=================================
>
>Date: Mon, 12 May 1997
>From: Dorothy Preslar <dpreslar at fas.org>
>
>Source: C-span (live at 11 am)
>------------------------------
>
>A new food safety initiative spurred by recent outbreaks of foodborne
>pathogens in the United States was announced by Vice President Al Gore, who
>said that "when a child reaches for a piece of food, it ought to be safe."
>
>Main points of the initiative that will rest on a cooperative framework
>involving FDA, USDA, CDC, HHS and EPS are:
>
>1. More inspectors, especially for seafood
>2. Extending food inspection to fruit and vegetable juices
>3. $16.5 million for research on new tests, including Hepatitis A and
>Cyclospora not now detectable in foods
>4. Re-examination of microbial resistance to traditional modes of
>preserving food, e.g., heat and refrigeration
>5. An 8th sentinel site to be added to CDC's early warning system
>6. Technology to be made more generally availabe for tracking down
>infections, including DNA fingerprinting.
>
>The vice president also called upon citizens to take more care in personal
>hygiene (e.g. hand washing) and food preparation (e.g. washing fruits and
>vegetables and safe handling of meat products), and government agencies to
>provide more public education on these issues.
>
>-----------------
>May 12, 1997
>
>VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES PLAN TO STRENGTHEN, IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY Calls
>For Stricter Precautions For Fruit & Vegetable Juices, Improved Inspections
>
>
>Message Creation Date was at 12-MAY-1997 13:18:00
>
>THE WHITE HOUSE
>Office Of The Vice President
>______________________________________________________________________
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>CONTACT: 202-456-7035
>MONDAY, May 12, 1997
>
>
>VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES PLAN TO STRENGTHEN, IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY
>Calls For Stricter Precautions For Fruit & Vegetable Juices, Improved
>Inspections
>
> WASHINGTON -- Vice President Gore today (5/12) announced a five-point plan
>to
>significantly increase the safety of the nation's food supply. The plan sets
>forth steps the Administration will take this year to strengthen food safety
>and details how we will use $43.2 million in new funds the President has
>requested in his fiscal year 1998 budget.
>
> "When children reach for a piece of food, parents deserve to have peace of
>mind," said the Vice President who heads the National Performance Review to
>make government work better and cost less. "This Administration is using the
>most modern science and a common-sense approach to increase the safety of our
>nation's food supply and protect the public health."
>
> The plan, "Food Safety From Farm to Table," is outlined in a report
>presented
>to the Vice President today by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E.
>Shalala, Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, and Environmental
>Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner. The President requested
>the
>report in January. It calls for improved inspections, public education and
>greater use of the latest science to dramatically reduce foodborne illness.
> It
>calls for stricter safety precautions for fruit and vegetable juices,
>improved
>seafood inspections, and increased investment in research, risk assessment
>and
>surveillance.
>
> In his January 25 radio address, the President announced he was requesting
>$43.2 million for food safety in his FY 1998 budget and requested a report
>detailing recommendations on ways to further improve food safety. The
>Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, and the
>Environmental
>Protection Agency, working with state and local officials, the food industry,
>scientists, consumer, and producer groups, developed the report.
>
> Today's actions build on previous Administration steps to modernize the
>nation's food safety programs, first proposed by the Vice President's
>National Performance Review. Specifically, the National Performance Review
>encouraged the widespread adoption of preventive controls to food safety, and
>the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
>systems.
>
> A key element of the Administration's food safety efforts has been the
>Hazard
>Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach that requires the food
>industry to use the most modern science to identify sources of potential
>contamination in food production and transportation and then put in place
>preventive measures. Already required by the Food and Drug Administration
>for
>seafood and by USDA for meat and poultry, FDA will propose preventive
>measures,
>including HACCP, for the manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice products,
>and
>USDA will propose HACCP and other appropriate regulatory and non-regulatory
>options for egg products.
>
> In addition to moving toward a science-based, preventive approach to food
>safety, the Administration continues to improve the effectiveness of food
>safety inspections. Specifically, the additional funds requested for FY 1998
>will allow the FDA to add inspectors to implement seafood HACCP and to expand
>its program to develop additional mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with
>United States trading partners ensuring that imported foods are produced and
>manufactured under systems that offer comparable safety measures to those
>used
>in the United States. With the new funds, FDA will also be able to provide
>technical assistance to foreign countries on safe growing and handling
>practices.
>
> The Administration already is taking steps to put in place the new National
>Early Warning System President Clinton announced in January to track and
>combat
>outbreaks of foodborne illness. This fiscal year, two new FoodNet sentinel
>sites were added in New York and Maryland. With funds requested for the
>upcoming fiscal year, an eighth site will open. This surveillance system is
>supported by the CDC, FDA and USDA, working with state authorities. New
>funds
>included in the FY 1998 budget will also allow these sites to update
>technology
>and build a "fingerprinting" database of bacterial DNA. This will enable
>food
>safety experts to clear any geographic hurdle to their work by having a
>national resource that can help them quickly identify contaminated foods that
>are the sources of foodborne illness.
>
> Under the Administration's plan, work will start immediately on a national
>public education campaign on safe food handling. Today, an unprecedented
>public-private partnership was established among government agencies and
>industry and consumer groups to develop a food safety education campaign
>aimed
>at consumers.
>
> Research to develop quick, reliable scientific methods for detecting
>contamination -- like the Hepatitis A virus and cyclospora -- will ensure
>that
>public health agencies have the necessary tools to prevent and control
>outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The latest research will also explore how
>pathogens become resistant to traditional food preservation techniques such
>as
>heat and refrigeration, and will support new pathogen control methods.
>
> Also under the new initiative, EPA, FDA and the CDC will collaborate with
>state and local health departments on research to help health officials
>better
>predict and control outbreaks of waterborne microbial contaminants, such as
>cryptosporidium.
>
>To comment on this service: feedback at www.whitehouse.gov
>
>--
>Dorothy B. Preslar
>Washington ProMED Officer/AHEAD Program Officer
>Federation of American Scientists
>Voice: 202-675-1011
>FAX: 675-1010
>dpreslar at fas.org
>http://www.fas.org/promed/
>http://www.fas.org/ahead/
>...........................................................dp/jpw
>
>
>
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>
Ben & Peggi Rodgers
Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz 122 W, 37 N)
USA
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