2009 Traceability & Food Safety - Here's one comment from each month

Traceability & Food Safety in 2009 - Bits & Pieces - One for each month

January 27, 2009 - Reuters News Service
"The latest U.S. salmonella outbreak could spur food safety reform in Congress, but the process will be slow and consumers will remain at risk until the shattered regulatory regime can be fixed"

February 16, 2009 - New York Times
"The more investigators look into the latest food-safety scandal involving Peanut Corporation of America, the worse it gets. It now appears that as many as nine people have died and 19,000 have been sickened after eating cookies, crackers or institutional peanut butter tainted with salmonella from a plant in Georgia owned by the company"

March 2009 - Office of the Inspector General
The report "Traceability in the Food Supply Chain". Objectives of the report "1. To assess the traceability of selected food products. 2. To determine the extent to which selected food facilities maintain information required byt he FDA in a food emergency"

April 3, 2009 - Los Angeles Times
"Food Safety reform is on the table again. The pistachio warning, coming not long after the peanut product recall, may lead to legislative changes"

May 14, 2009 - Dr. David Acheson Testimony, Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, House Committee on Agriculture
"We also note that traceback investigations for contaminated food, which we discussed with this Subcommittee last year, are more difficult when they involve fresh produce because the food is perishable ann the produce item (along with any packaging or labels) is usually no longer avaialable for testing by the time the illnesses are reported.

June 3, 2009 Grocery Manufacturers Association, Pamela Bailey, Pres. & CEO testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health
(Regarding HR2749) "We strongly support in concept many of the proposals in the draft, including those that require food companies to have a food safety plan; proposals for FDA to set safety standards for fruit and vegetables; proposals to improve the safety of imported food and food ingredients;....."

July 7, 2009 Food Safety Working Group Announcement, comment by Vice President Joe Biden
"It's not unusual for us to snack on vegetables from South America and turn and pick up some fruit from the South Pacific and then go to have a dinner with beef from Brazil"

August 5, 2009 Keep Our Food Safe.org
"Secondly, the working group (Food Safety Working Group) discussed the importance of a national traceaback and response system to help identify the source of an outbreak quickly and efficiently"

September 2009 IFT Report Given to FDA
The Institute of Food Technologists delivered a report compiled over a year to the FDA regarding traceability systems currently in use in the United States, systems and technologies available and recommendations for moving forward in the area of traceability.

October 22, 2009 Senate Bill 510 discussed on the hill
Hearings were held on SB510. This followed passage on July 29, 2009 of HR2749 in the House of Representatives. HR2749 and SB510 will be the basis for a final food bill that is expected to go to the Presidents desk in early 2010.

November 14, 2009 IFT Report, Task Order 6, released by FDA
The report released today by the FDA included 5 parts..Executive Summary, Technical - Executive Summary, Economic - Tactics fro Improving Food Product Traceability - Economic Report and Technical Report

December 9 & 10, 2009 Joint FDA/FSIS meetings in DC
A two day public session regarding food safety and specifically traceability were discussed at the first joint meeting of the FDA and FSIS as the two agencies vow to work together in the area of food safety moving forward.

FoodTRACE wishes everyone a safe and happy new year. In many ways, 2009 was an informational year in the area of food safety and traceability. In 2010 much of that information will be finalized and actions will be implemented. We leave you with this final thought for 2009 ---Improvment in traceability is needed and will happen - That doesn't mean it has to be expensive....at less than 1/2 cent per carton for any organization, you can help in supplying full supply chain traceability, fully forward and fully back, from any point in the supply chain.

New IFT Report Released - Task Order 7

The last report on tracing submitted to the FDA on Tracing is Task Order 7: Tracing Systems: An Exercise Exploring Data Needs and Design. This 43 page report is the culmination of exploration into tracing specifically with tomatoes because of their complexity with repacking needs and because they took the brunt of focus during the 2008 Salmonella Saint Paul Event which cost the tomato industry in excess of $100 million dollar. In doing Task Order 7, there was input taken and utilized from approximately 10 various traceability projects. FoodTRACE was one of those that provided input. The FoodTRACE system, capabilites and methodologies are referenced in several areas of this report although in keeping with IFT's policies, no specific names such as FoodTRACE or other companies are mentioned when those references are discussed. The FoodTRACE system, even moreso following this report, does provide the capabilities that the FDA is looking for in moving forward and we are prepared as such. The entire report can be viewed at http://www.ift.org/traceability/IFT_FDA_TO7FinalReport.pdf.

Sherri Mc Garry Center For Food Safety And Applied Nutrition FDA

Sherri is the lead on traceability with the FDA - this is her presentation which shows concerns and expectations of the produce industry regarding this area.

Sherri Mc Garry Center For Food Safety And Applied Nutrition Fda

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Deborah White SVP And CLO, FMI

A very good perspective on traceability presented by FMI SVP & CLO, FMI, Deborah White

Deborah White Svp And Clo, Fmi

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Dave Elder, Office Of Regional Ops And Regulatory Affairs, Fda

An additional presentation by FDA regarding traceability shown at the recent FDA/FSIS meeting in Washington on Dec. 9 & 10

Dave Elder, Office Of Regional Ops And Regulatory Affairs, Fda

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Link to all submitted presentations at the FSIS/FDA Meetings from Dec. 9 & 10, 2009

The direct link to the submitted presentations is: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Agenda_&_Presentations_Traceability/index.asp

IF the link doesn't work (it was sporadic) then you can reach the presentations this way:
1. Go to http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
In the center area, the 3rd current heading is "Joint FDA/FSIS Public Meeting....
Click on "Meeting Materials"
2. In the first section there are clickable listings...
Click on "Presentations"
Enjoy the read.....

Jennifer Mc Entire, Ph.D Costing Evaluation of Traceability Programs

Jennifer McEntire, Ph.D. submitted this report regarding the costs associated with produce traceability programs at he FDA/FSIS meetings held in Washington D.C. on December 9 & 10, 2009

Jennifer Mc Entire, Ph.D Ift Costing

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Florida Tomato Growers Exchange submitted this recent Harvard Report

Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange discuss their findings regarding efficient methods of achieving traceability with cost effective means.

Reggie Brown Florida Tomato Assoc Gave Harvard Report

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Ian Williams CDC Chief, Outbreak Response And Prevention

Here is the presentation submitted by Dr. Ian Williams, Chief, Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch, CDC, to the joint FDA/FSIS meetings in Washington D.C. on December 9, 2009

Ian Williams CDC Chief, Outbreak Response And Prevention

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Jennifer McEntire Presentation to FDA

Here is the presentation given by Jennifer McEntire, Ph.D., IFT, to the joint FDA FSIS meetings held in Washington D.C. on December 9 & 10, 2009

Jennifer McEntire Presentation to FDA

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What Where and When of SB510 ?

As he portrays himself as a "fresh-faced-recent-law-school-graduate", Mr. Alex Ferguson has written not only an exceptionally fresh view of his reading of SB510 but he also includes a chart that is eye-opening in many respects. This is one of the best summaries of SB510 that we have come across with and it is both interesting and insightful reading. We encourage reading the entire article, but at least take a close look at the chart. The article which includes the chart can be seen at http://foodsafetynews.com/2009/11/s-510-laws-without-effective-timelines/ ... enjoy the read.

FDA/FSIS Agenda for Dec 9 & 10

The following is the announced agenda for the joint meetings in Washington D.C. on Dec. 9 & 10.

Dec 9 Morning Session Topics
Intro - David Goldman, FSIS
Welcome- Jerry Mande, Acting Undersecretary, USDA Office of Food Safety
Mike Taylor, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, FDA
Framing the Issue - David Goldman, FSIS and Sherri McGarry, FDA
Stage 1 - Epidemiology and Identify the Food
Robert Teclaw, FSIS
Katie Vierk, FDA
Ian Williams, CDC
Other panel members TBD
Stage 2 - Identify the Product, Jurisdiction (Traceback)
Ellen Morrison, FDA
Bill Smith, FSIS
Anna Hooper, Darden Restaurants
Craig Wilson, Costco

Dec 9, Afternoon Session Topics
Morning Wrap-up and Afternoon Logistics
Stage 3 - Identify the Source and Distribution (Traceforward)
Ken Petersen, FSIS
FDA - TBD
Sarah Geisert, General Mills
Mark Schad, Smart Food Safety, Inc.
Consumer Perspectives -
Panel Members TBD
Pre-registered Public Comment - David Goldman, FSIS, Moderator
Day 1 Wrap-up David Goldman FSIS


Dec 10, Morning Session Topics
Welcome Back Steven Sundlof, FDA
Framing the Issue: FDA's Perspective on Product Tracing and Highlights of Federal Register Notice Sherri McGarry - FDA
IFT Summary Jennifer McIntire, IFT
Core Elements in Effective Tracing Systems
Benjamin Miller, Minnesota Dept. of Ag
Donna Garen, Global Food Safety Initiative
Howard M. Magwire, United Egg Producers & Association
Steve Mavity, National Fisheries Institute
Achieving Full Supply Chain Traceability (Emphasizing Linages between Data Elements
Kathy Means, PMA
Other Panel Members TBD
Leveraging and Harnessing Existing Systems and Enabling Technology
Ed Beckman, California Tomato Growers Assn.
Larry Kohl, FMI
Other Panel Members TBD

Dec 10, Afternoon Session Topics
Challenges in Tracing Animal Feed
Chris Melluso, FDA
Randy Gordon, National Grain and Feed Assn.
Richard Sellers, American Feed Industry Assn.
Other Panel Members TBD
Feasibility, Costs and Potential Benefits of Establishing a Tracing System
Doug Bailey, Agricultural Marketing Service
Other Panel Members TBD
FDA and FSIS Next Steps
TBD, Food Safety and Inspection Service
Faye Feldstein, FDA
Pre-registered Public Comment - Steven Sundlof, Moderator
Closing Remarks - Steven Sundlof, FDA