University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC)

MSc in Food Safety Management

Policy and Strategy Studies

Tutor: Mr Paul Belcher

Assessment 2

Introduction

Though the EU food safety policy in the information on the collation and integration is clearly more than the U.S. large and complex, but the EU food safety authority (EFSA) was established only about 10 years (2002), the history of European Food security policy development in food seems shorter than the history of the evolution of food safety in the United States.

Early American involved in food safety laws are inherited from the British. In 1202, Britain's first food law─ “Bread Law" enacted, which is strictly prohibited in the bread flour mixed with peas or beans fraud. The federal government's management of the drug began in 1820. At that time, 11 physicians met in Washington, DC to develop “United States Pharmacopeia (USP)" - This is the first U.S. standards for drugs code. And the following decades, more than 100 food related bills were passed in the congress.

In the process of the law-making, consumers, industries, political parties (including some pressure groups such as the labor union and the trade union), and the government play their part in each steps of the food law-making and implementation.

Since the U.S. has early developed the policy on food issues, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formed in 1906. And U.S. is a grain country that has food supply in domestic and export; the country also has the identity of the world's largest grain exporter. Since the U.S. shows the food power in food supply in the global market; the progress of the implementation of food policy, more or less, depends on the of food politics.

Several cases of food safety incidents happened in the states in the 2000s, President Obama announced the creation of a Working Group on Food Safety (Food Safety Working Group, FSWG) in 2009, for the solving the food issues of food contamination by microbial, other food safety incidents and preventive measures; and in 2011 the President signed the New FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), to strengthen farm-to-table process control, traceability of food when the accident occurred, and Improving food induced problem response and the mechanism in recovery.

Who became an indirect promoter of the food Act?

Throughout lots of changes in the food relevant legislation, and who and what are the main roles to play the part in the policy revolution? Probably is the economic environment of the states at that time. Industries and government can cooperate to each other in order to have mutual benefits or win-win situation.

The trade unions and the politicians can have mutual benefits since they can get what they need form each other. What political parties need are resources and votes; while in the other hand those entrepreneurs (especially the big industries) need the political parties (pressure groups) to regulate the legislation or change the old bills, and these can fulfill the entrepreneurs’ expectation. Since the food legislation has been regulated, some industries (may be SMEs) which cannot meet the standards of the food laws will be lack of ability to compete in the private market and their products will be slowly eliminated. And those industries which can meet the standard and not only stand firm in the trade market but also have a greater market share.

Businesses, political parties and pressure groups get what they want through the results of these causal relations; and the most beneficial one is the government, which can gain from the tax. And what it should be clear that the industries, pressure groups and the political parties are only playing the supporting role in the law-making process. Stigler (1971) stated that the democratic decision process must involve “all” the community, not simply those who are directly concerned with a decision. So, if legislation is profit for society, which reason is positive for regulation, even though the promoters are the political parties and the industries, the legislations finally come into effect depends on the federal government. But there still need the two supporting roles (food industries and politics relevant groups) to make all the things happened.

Who are the starters of the entire processing of the law-making?

Behind the stories of the series of US food law, as Law (2010) mentioned that the most enduring problem in the food and drug industry has been the issue of “adulteration” – the cheapening of products through the addition of impure or inferior ingredients. Since ancient times, producers of food and drug products have attempted to alter their wares in an effort to obtain dear prices for cheaper goods. For instance, water has often been added to wine, the cream skimmed from milk, and chalk added to bread.

And all of the adulterated food will also affect the sales of the purity food, and the high-quality food industries. Thus, those affected food industries are not willing to let other substandard affect their reputation and sales; and then those industries need to seek for a way to help them or solve the current situation. They told their unfavorable situation through the pressure groups or political parties to the government, and hope the officials will accept their demands.

Another thing is also mentioned by Law (2010), the technological change in food manufacturing gave rise to new products and increased product complexity. The late nineteenth century witnessed the introduction of several new food products including alum-based baking powders, oleomargarine (the first viable substitute for butter), glucose, canned foods, “dressed” (i.e. refrigerated) beef, blended whiskey, chemical preservatives, and so on (Strasser 1989; Young 1989; Goodwin 1999). Unfamiliarity with these new products generated consumer concerns about food safety and food adulteration. Moreover, because many of these new products directly challenged the dominant position enjoyed by more traditional foods, these developments also give rise to demands for regulation on the part of traditional food producers who desired regulation to disadvantage these new competitors (Wood 1986). So the food industries (normally which produce the high-quality of food) demands for the tighten food legislation so as to protect their profits. 

Pressure Groups and Political Parties play the role of Catalyst

Pressure groups such as the labor union and the trade union, they are mostly known as fighting the benefits for their group members. While operating a group, it requires material and non-material resources (fund, contacts and human resources, etc.); and they need their supporters to provide, in order to have a sable or more resources, the groups will make their efforts to fight for the welfare and the demands of the food industries. Some pressure groups involves in politics, the political parties not only need the resources from the union members and the industries, and also need their “trust” (vote) to strengthen their own parties. Once they gain more votes implies that political parties gain more political power to affect the implementation of the legislation. This cycle will continue and it tends to be bigger and bigger. That is why the political groups act as catalysts in the processing of law-making.

Compliance strategies

Mostly the food safety control system, HACCP from Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), has been widely introduced to the food industries for years. However, standard operating system is usually beneficial to large chain food enterprises. But to the SMEs, the implementation of mandatory standard operating procedures will only increase the burden on SMEs. The following new acts of food safety help most of the food industries to regulate the disadvantages and be able to establish the operating processes that can meet the national standard. Since there has no enormous change in food safety for decades in U.S., the following will be focus on two food safety acts introduced in 2009 and 2011, separately.

Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

This food safety enhancement act was passed in 2009 by the U.S. Congress, this Act help improve and extends the original food safety policies. Since the U.S. President Obama ordered the establishment of Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) in March 2009.

The new bill gives FDA more authority and resources, such as: FDA the right to regulate how the farmers planted their corn, the manner in which the harvest, and even the field, farm visits, or, if necessary was based on the needs of a quarantine area isolation (FSEA: section 104-107). These measures may be measures to improve the existing food system, because of the content in terms too vague and ill-defined scope of authority is likely to lead to future application and enforcement difficulties.

Furthermore, the new bill does not seem to really address the underlying causes of food insecurity, such as: the industrialization of agriculture-related health problems derived from, and a small number of industries firmly in control of the global food supply chain. For real implementation is on the market to improve food safety, should be legislation on the industrial food system, and its main industry has a more direct specification and supervision, rather than small farmers or to agricultural producers.

At the national level of foreign imports, the new bill has many provisions on imported food. Which deal with certification and identification of the most influential of the normative issues, if the imports coming from a specific country or region (e.g.: influenza epidemic or countries) of food, must be able to issue a full and proper documents, said the exporting country has the necessary control.

Even able to provide such proof, FDA still refused to allow this and other countries to maintain the food imported into the United States ( FSEA: Section 109). This means that future food exports to the U.S., that the country may be too strict food safety policies to the WTO trade litigation, or in other trade areas of the retaliation.

The New FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 2011

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4th, 2011. This is the final product of Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it. This act gives the federal government a number of new powers to strengthen the regulation of food businesses and food safety checks. Over the past few years, the United States there have been several major food safety incidents ( peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella, US spinach poisoning incident, melamine-contaminated milk etc.), The congress passed the bill for this, for the first time since the 1930s food security system, a comprehensive revision.

There are some important food safety enhancements in the FSMA 2011 as follows:

Approaches to quality management

Various U.S. statutes and executive orders establish procedures to ensure that regulations are developed in an open, transparent, and interactive manner and that, as appropriate, the regulatory process is similarly open to the public. Regulations and their implementation must lead to fulfillment of objectives for the public good such as protecting health, safety, and environment. Though the U.S. peanut butter contamination a serious impact on domestic consumer confidence and the credibility of food safety regulatory agencies, but denied that the U.S. remains the world's food safety system is relatively sound, healthy state. A strict food safety regulatory system, the recall system and the system of punitive damages are the three important strategies to maintain food safety in the United States.

The importance to strengthen the “Farm-to-table ”food safety regulatory system

U.S. food safety system consists of a complete food regulatory law, multi-level food regulatory agencies, and institutions outside the supervision of the power structure, can achieve a variety of food "from farm to table" full control.

America's most important food regulation laws in 1938 by the "Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act", this law still in use, is then introduced the "Food Quality Protection Act" "Federal Meat Inspection Act," "Egg Products Inspection Act "and other laws and regulations of the foundation. The food safety laws and regulations provide guidelines and specific operating standards and procedures, so that all aspects of food quality control, disease prevention and emergency response are of law.

U.S. food safety regulatory agencies are divided into federal, state and territory three levels. At the federal level, the main agency responsible for food safety are under the Ministry of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ministry of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Environmental Protection Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. State and regional agencies are responsible for implementation of various laws and regulations; check the area of food production and point of sale.

In these regulators, the FDA's jurisdiction of the widest, covering everything except meat and poultry food. Meat, poultry and related products by the Food Safety and Inspection Service is responsible; CDC investigation of food borne disease control and prevention; EPA drinking water regulation and safety of pesticide residues in food; Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regulatory fish and other seafood health.
　
Three regulatory agencies are mostly hired epidemiologists, microbiologists and food research experts, to professionals stationed in food processing plants, farms, etc., from raw materials acquisition, production, distribution, sales and after-sales and other aspects of comprehensive regulation, constitute a three-dimensional monitoring network covering the whole country.

Federal food safety regulatory agencies to implement the vertical management, for matters within the jurisdiction of the implementation of top-down management. This management approach avoids the lacuna between the various links or repeat, to prevent absence due to management problems and led to a part affects the entire food industry. However, decentralized management, the U.S. food safety regulatory agencies in recent years revealed inefficient use of resources; lack the necessary coordination between departments and many other disadvantages, the establishment of independent regulatory agencies becoming more supported.

Besides, as the materials travel across the global village, even the food is produced in US but the ingredients may not be all originated from the local. Hence, President Barack Obama has signed the “Food Safety Modernization Act” into law in January 2011, to reduce outbreaks of food-borne illness by imposing stricter regulations on food imports and expanding the FDA's enforcement authority. Regardless of the price or the safety of the raw materials imported, this is a constraint to foreign-produced goods; and this is an effective measure of protecting U.S. food industry from foreign threats (such as the mainland China).

The management of specific food safety issues

CDC has issued a statement saying in September 2008, a total of 43 states salmonella outbreaks were found in the States, almost all patients infected with Salmonella had eaten peanut butter, and finally the regulatory authorities have come forward to warn consumers not to eat a temporary peanut butter. In recent years, food safety incidents continue to occur so that U.S. consumers hit by the U.S. media that the U.S. food regulatory system needs to be strengthened, and manufacturers should strictly manage the production process.

According to the mostly happened food bourn outbreaks, the new acts also have a key focus in (1) preventing Salmonella contamination; (2) reducing the threat of E. coli O157: H7; (3) building a national trace back and response system and (4) improving organization of federal food safety responsibilities.

The management of new technologies

Quoted from the “A Description of the U.S. Food Safety System”, it stated out the risk assessment, risk analysis are importance to the food safety policy making.

“Science and risk analysis are fundamental to U.S. food safety policy making. In recent years, the federal government has focused more intently on risks associated with microbial pathogens and on reducing those risks through a comprehensive, farm-to-table approach to food safety. This policy emphasis was based on the conclusion that the risks associated with microbial pathogens are unacceptable and, to a large extent, avoidable; and that multiple interventions would be required throughout the farm-to-table chain to make real progress in reducing food borne pathogens and the incidence of food borne disease. This effort followed many years of concentration on managing chemical hazards from the food supply by regulation of additives, drugs, pesticides, and other chemical and physical hazards considered potentially dangerous to human health. It reflects the recognition that the approaches to analyses and review of biological hazards and safety concerns differ from those presented by chemicals.

The U.S. government has completed a risk analysis on Salmonella in eggs and egg products which included the first farm-to-table quantitative microbial risk assessment. It is also conducting a risk analysis for E. coli 0157:H7 in ground beef and has entered into a cooperative agreement with Harvard University for a risk assessment of the transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy by foods. The U.S. is also carrying out a risk analysis for Listeria monocytogenes in a variety of ready-to-eat foods.”

And these food politics mentioned before can also be explained between the countries. In a certain extent, food power is a powerful trick in international politics. As Henry Kissinger declared in the 1970's, 'If you control the oil you control the country; if you control food, you control the population.'  That is one of the reasons that prompt tighter the US food law.  The US is still the largest food producing countries in the world, and food which is made/ produced in USA used to be a “brand” for consumers all over the world (and the same situation that people have a good impression on Japan-made goods).

The conditions that consumers care about food is: safety, price and the quality. And one of the conditions which affect the food brand most is “safety”. As it can be seen in the “2006-2008 major U.S. food safety incidents”, not only the food brands are destroyed, but also the public trust from the country and the brand “Made-in-USA” are seriously destroyed. One falls and another rises, if the country do not act quickly to restore public confidence, such as destroying the problem food a.s.a.p. or re-implementing the food law and other adopting other urgent measures; consumers (both local and overseas consumers) must change their choice to another substitute made by other countries. Since the scandal of the nuclear accident after the tsunami in Japan, public has lost the confidence of the Japan-made foods after the tsunami. And the Japanese restaurants in other countries change their sources of their ingredients, and this action can appease the diners and those restaurants may not be defeated. Even if emergency measures are taken, it still needs time to regain the confidence of the public, and during the time of confidence regaining, the country (both Japan and the US) need to bear the economy loss form the food safety incidents, and the food power of the US is at risk.

Conculsion

Although the U.S. food laws early start, but in recent decades no longer a significant correction and update the relevant laws and regulations, and in the United States government from 2009 to 2011 large-scale update-related food law, food safety and set up a special group, is because in the decade after 2000, the United States appear repeatedly emerging food safety incidents, Escherichia coli and Salmonella food-borne outbreaks caused by the relatively large number."1 in 6 people get food poisoning." CDC uses this food poisoning data as slogan stated the seriousness of food poisoning in the U.S., thus the mortality, economic and medical injuries cannot be ignored; food-borne induced food poisoning can be avoided by the prevention. In the new food safety policy, the U.S. government turns to focus on the FARM-to-TABLE operational procedures, in addition to strictly regulate and investigate the food sector, and help food enterprises to establish a better food production process.

Since the ultimate goal of food security is to protect the safety of the food intake of nationals of new U.S. food safety policies will be key in regulating the switch to "advance the prevention”, which the country may intend to enhance the ability to prevent food contamination, reflecting the advanced industrial countries. The future trend in food safety policy may be the development of national and global food production in order to increase the public confidence. Another important reason behind is, being the world's largest food producing country, The United States have the food power so as to maintain their political status among the nations.

References

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CDC OutbreakNet Team (2011) Outbreak Response Overview [WWW] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Avaliable from: http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/

FDA, USDA (2000) A Description of the U.S. Food Safety System [WWW] U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Available from: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/codex/system.htm

FDA.(2011) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)[WWW] U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration. Available from: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FSMA/ucm255893.htm

FDA- for consumers (2011) Food Bill Aims to Improve Safety [WWW] U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration. Available from : http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm237758.htm

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U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. (2011) [WWW] U S Food and Drug Administration Available from: http://www.fda.gov/