Food Safety In-Sight
Roy E. Costa, R.S., M.S.
In a perfect food safety world, operators of food facilities would place the health of the consumer above all else. Science-based foodborne illness prevention systems would be in place from farm to table and government in partnership with industry would effectively monitor the food supply so unsafe conditions could be detected and quickly corrected. In a perfect world, food safety would be a given. In reality, operators do not adopt food safety systems because of an overarching concern for public health and safety. Think about how and why the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1906 came into being. As a reminder, it came about as a result of Upton Sinclair’s book, “The Jungle”. Sinclair’s novel depicting horrendous sanitary conditions in Chicago’s slaughterhouses galvanized public opinion and forced congress to regulate the food industry. The media is still at work today exposing wrongdoing in the food industry. Since history and our modern experience prove that we cannot depend upon industry to place the good of society above business interests, we enact laws and rules to protect the health, safety and welfare of consumers.
While these laws and rules are well intentioned, they depend for the most part on public agencies for enforcement. When agencies are properly funded and have strong political support they protect the public. When they are weak or lose sight of their mission, the public faces increasing risk. Our current food safety regulatory system is a patchwork of agencies that for the most part have their roots in the earliest days of public health. While some still say the United States enjoys the safest food supply in the world (or “one of the safest” as our government now says!) our public health infrastructure is deteriorating under the pressure of shifting legislative priorities and dwindling resources. Many health departments are cutting positions, leaving positions vacant, or trying to pass responsibility off to other agencies. While bio-security concerns have refocused the legislative agenda on public health and safety, less and less money is being spent on core public health programs. Many agencies are in serious jeopardy of defaulting on their mission. In Florida, for example, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants has come under attack in the media for failing to meet inspection quotas and failing to enforce basic sanitation and safety laws.Continue Reading Foodborne illness and tort- are you due diligent?

Tuesday, March 8, 2005
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Belmont lawmaker’s bill would require restaurant workers to get more training on food safety and the dangers of hepatitis.
Republican Jim Pilliod’s legislation would require would require at least one employee at every restaurant to pass a basic food safety course once every five years.
He…