AGEC 429: AGRICULTURAL POLICY

LECTURE 23: U.S. FOOD SAFETY, ASSISTANCE, AND NUTRITION POLICY

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

Need for food safety policy highlighted by recent events:• Outbreak of E. Coli contaminations in 1993 (Jack-in-the-Box)

• Intentional spread of anthrax following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

• Mad Cow Disease in 2003

• Spinach E-coli outbreak in 2006

• Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak in 2009

• Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak in 2011

• AND THEN IN 2015 THERE WAS …• Many others. The Center for Disease Control (CDC)

maintains a database of outbreaks. (http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/multistate-outbreaks/outbreaks-list.html)

AGEC 429 Lecture #23U.S. FOOD SAFETY, ASSISTANCE,

AND NUTRITION POLICY

Peanut Corporation of America

Blakely, Georgia

9 peopledied

30 people

died

Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak in 2011

Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak in 2009

Food Safety Continuum

Food safety concerns are related to nutrition issues and can be seen as a continuum of issues from those that are natural occurrences to those that are artificially created.

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

Policy concern: Which (if any) of these create a “___________”issue? That is, do we consider “protecting the public health” a responsibility of the government? If so, which aspects of health? And which government (federal, state, local)?

Food Safety Policy Continuum

Food safety policies can also be seen as a continuum of measures to deal with corresponding food safety issue from basically do nothing (“Buyer Beware”) to no risk allowed (“Zero Tolerance”).

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

Policy concern: protecting _____________ vs. encroaching on ______________ and ______________. Most people approve of government intervention to protect against food borne disease and illness … but how far is too far? At what point does protection become oppressive?

Many Federal government agencies are involved in food safety and food safety policy:

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

Regulatory Power

• ________________ - The ability to identify the source of food

contamination at any point in the food chain.- Policy issue: What requirements should be

imposed on whom in developing an adequatesystem to trace food contamination?

Policies and Alternatives to Improve Food Safety

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

• _________________________________(HACCP)- Major policy issues:► Should HACCP be required on the farm and in food

transportation, retailing, and restaurants?► Should HACCP be required for handling of fruits and vegetables?

• Let the Buyer Beware (________________)

• _______________- Use of ionized electron beans (radiation)

to kill bacteria and parasites that cause foodborne disease.

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

• Food Safety Modernization Act (FMSA) of 2010- Focuses on prevention of ________________ as the first line of defense

against food safety hazards.

Policies and Alternatives to Improve Food Safety (cont’d)

- Requires that virtually all food processors, manufacturers, and packers analyze hazards and adopt risk-based preventive controls to manage product safety.

- Prior to the FMSA preventive controls were only required for juice, seafood, meat, and poultry under HACCP regulations.

- Key elements in the FSMA 2010: 1. Requires food processors to analyze food safety hazards and implement risk-

based preventive controls;2. Gives the FDA mandatory recall authority with greater public outreach;3. Enhances the traceability systems for food products;4. Improves disease surveillance and the use of science-based risk assessments;5. Establishes on-farm safety standards for produce; and6. Redesigns FDA’s import safety control system to enhance FDA inspection of

foreign food facilities.

More info for interested students: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm239907.htm

• Risk Assessment and Tolerance- Delaney Clause (Food Additive Amendment)

required zero tolerance for cancer-causing substances in the food supply.

- Problems with ______________:(1) our technical ability to measure increasingly

minute amounts of substances in food is increasing rapidly;(2) some additives occur naturally in certain foods; and (3) the findings that minute amounts of certain substances may not cause cancer.

- Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 changed standard to “__________________________” of “no harm.”

Policies and Alternatives to Improve Food Safety (cont’d)

• Regulation of Food Additives

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

- Regulated under the Food Additive Amendment to the Food, Drug andCosmetics Act (1938) and the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996

• Labeling Requirements- Intended to inform consumers about what

they are eating.

Policies and Alternatives to Improve Food Safety (cont’d)

• Biotech Foods- Major policy issue: Is biotechnology an “_______”

subject to the control of the FQPA of 1996?- Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) scare in

2000 (StarlinkTM corn) - Debate continues: complete ban vs. requiring

mandatory labeling or stringent tests.

FOOD SAFETY POLICY

• Organic Foods- Policy problem: How to define what an “organic product”

is, what inputs are “natural,” and what production processesyield “organic” products?

- USDA developed National Organic Program

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

Hunger and malnutrition in the U.S. and around the world result from at least the following six problems:

1. _________________

2. Skewed Distributionof Income

3. __________________

4. Low Levels of Education

5. Poor Health and HealthCare Conditions

6. War and Civil Strife

Food assistance and nutrition policy is concerned with the problems of hunger and malnutrition.

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

1. Commodity distribution- the distribution of food purchased by USDAfor various nutrition programs

U.S. Food Assistance Policy

Food assistance programs _________________ of USDA’s budget. Most are administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

3. Child nutrition programs- school lunch programs, school breakfast and

related child-care food programs, summerfood program, special milk program.

2. Food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance)(Over 70% of food assistance spending)- Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards

for low-income families to purchase nutritious foods.

U.S. Food Assistance Policy (continued)

4. Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC)- provides food, nutrition counseling, and access to healthservices to low income women, infants, and children.

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

5. Senior nutrition programs

- Allows adult care centers to participate in food programs.- Many programs especially target the food and nutrition

needs of low-income elderly people.

An alternative: Cashing out or “Universal Basic Income”(often proposed but never implemented in the U.S.)

- Consolidate all payments/program costs into a singlecash payment to participants.

- Can you see any pitfalls in this approach? Benefits?

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

U.S. Nutrition Education and Labeling Policy

USDA-administered programs to help consumers make nutritionallysound decisions in their food purchases:

• Dietary Guidelines for Americans- Provide authoritative advice about

how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce riskof major chronic diseases.

- Advice on the type and variety offoods to eat for good health, bodyweight and exercise, food ingredients, intake for good nutrition,alcohol intake, and good hygiene.

- Revised every five years.

- Much criticism.

U.S. Nutrition Education and Labeling Policy (continued)

• Food pyramid - Designed to assist consumers in making healthy food choices. Updated in 2006 to reflect _____________________________.

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

U.S. Nutrition Education and Labeling Policy (continued)

• MyPlate - Another effort to influence eating behavior of Americans.

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY

U.S. Nutrition Education and Labeling Policy (continued)

• Food product labeling regulations- Requires several types of labeling to assist consumers in

purchasing nutritional food, including:

1. Product identity labeling

2. Ingredient labeling

3. Nutrition labeling

4. Preparation and warning labeling

5. Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL)

FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION POLICY