Excerpt

Given recent recognition of the serious nature of the issue of food safety at the national level, not just in Congress but also in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), both federal agencies charged with ensuring the safety of the food supply, and elsewhere, stakeholders are asking: What can the U.S. government do to facilitate efforts to improve food safety, either through policy or perhaps even legal mandate? In response to concerns among food producers, regulators, consumers, and other stakeholders, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Food Forum met in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2008, to address this question. Specifically, the meeting explored ways to manage food safety practices from the supply chain to the marketplace; including ways to develop systematic, risk-based strategies for prevention of microbial contamination in foods, particularly produce, thermally processed foods, and meats. The workshop also served as a forum for experts on various disciplines to discuss approaches, technologies, and institutional strategies to mange food safety risks in a global market.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Planning Committee on Future Trends in Food Safety: Changing Market Forces, Emerging Safety Issues, and Economic Impact
• Food Forum
• Independent Report Reviewers
• Overview
• 1. Introduction
  • SETTING THE CONTEXT
  • KEYNOTE ADDRESS: INSTITUTIONAL ROLES IN FOOD SAFETY RISK-BASED MANAGEMENT
  • FINDING SOLUTIONS: CONSIDERING OPTIONS
• 2. Recent Outbreaks in Food Products: Lessons Learned from Past Experience
  • NEXT GENERATION FOOD SAFETY IN FRESH PRODUCE: AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
  • RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THERMALLY PROCESSED FOODS
  • LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MEAT INDUSTRY: CONTROL OF LISTERIA IN RTE MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS
  • CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN MANAGING FOOD SAFETY RISKS
  • OPEN DISCUSSION
• 3. The Complexities of Food Safety and Some Strategic Approaches Being Taken
  • INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE ON MANAGING RISKS IN A GLOBAL MARKET
  • TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS IN OUTBREAK PREVENTION
  • ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT IN MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLIERS
  • OPEN DISCUSSION
• 4. The Way Forward: Varying Perspectives
  • AN FDA PERSPECTIVE ON MOVING FORWARD
  • A CONSUMER ADVOCACY PERSPECTIVE ON MOVING FORWARD
  • AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE ON MOVING FORWARD
  • A USDA PERSPECTIVE ON MOVING FORWARD
• Appendixes
  • A Workshop Agenda
  • B Workshop Participants
  • C Speaker, Moderator, and Disscussant Biographies
  • D Acronyms and Abbreviations

Leslie Pray, and Ann Yaktine, Rapporteurs.

This study was supported between the National Academy of Sciences and Contract Nos. AG-3A94-C-09-0025 (U.S. Department of Agriculture), N01-OD-4-2139 (National Institutes of Health), and HHSF223200811169P (Food and Drug Administration). Additional support came from Abbott Laboratories, Cargill, Coca-Cola Company, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonalds, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Monsanto, and PepsiCo.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2009. Managing food safety practices from farm to table: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.