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Toward an Ever-Safer Food Supply: Extending the Trend into 2001 and Beyond |
A Message From Joseph A. Levitt
Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Looking back at some of CFSAN's most notable accomplishments of fiscal year 2000, I take great pride in our progress in that year. The pure volume of work completed in 2000 — what I refer to as moving "boulders over the mountaintop" — exceeded our goals for completing priority projects. But far more important than a checkmark per task accomplished, the achievements translate into incalculable benefits to consumers' lives and health. That's what really matters.
Working together with our many federal, state and local counterparts, we now have in place a food safety program for pathogen reduction that is fundamentally stronger than that which existed just three or four years ago. Across government, the program includes new surveillance systems, better prevention programs, faster outbreak response, enhanced education, and better coordinated and focused research and risk assessment activities.
Specifically, at FDA, we have new food safety programs for seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouts, juice and eggs. We have redirected and targeted our entire field inspection program toward food products at "high risk" of microbiological contamination. We have developed new strategies for monitoring the skyrocketing number of food imports. And we have made our research, risk assessment and education activities directly responsive to today's food safety needs.
But our world is constantly changing, and we must continue to change with it. In addition to foodborne pathogens, we must address such pressing food safety issues as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or TSE's; chemical contaminants and pesticides; and food allergens. The broad scope of food safety problems clearly warrants our full attention.
Indeed, we cannot rest until we have built a strong and credible food safety system that addresses the full range of food safety issues: one that is built on scientific expertise with recognized stature worldwide; that is risk-based; that provides a credible inspection and product sampling presence; that has the same level of protection for both domestic and imported food; that efficiently stewards new technologies to the market; and that effectively educates and communicates to consumers.
Please join me in fulfilling this vision. American consumers deserve nothing less.