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FDA Launches New Era of Smarter Food Safety Initiative, Releases Blueprint and Pilot Study - FDA.gov

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FDA Launches New Era of Smarter Food Safety Initiative, Releases Blueprint and Pilot Study - FDA.gov

FDA Launches New Era of Smarter Food Safety Initiative, Releases Blueprint and Pilot Study - FDA.gov

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 10:30 AM PDT

For Immediate Release:
Statement From:

Statement Author

Leadership Role

Commissioner of Food and Drugs - Food and Drug Administration

Stephen M. Hahn M.D.

Today, it is my great privilege to announce FDA's New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint. We were originally going to make this announcement in March, but as you all are well aware, we were forced to turn our attention to addressing the public health emergency posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the months that have followed, it has become even clearer — from our experiences with the pandemic and the lessons we have been learning as part of the FDA's response to it — just how essential the actions outlined in this blueprint are and, if anything, that they are more important now, than ever.

Whatever theoretical or aspirational aspects there were to this blueprint before the pandemic, those have been propelled into concrete and essential action plans. I'll explain what I mean as I get into the details of just how we will be leveraging new technologies and approaches to create a more digital, transparent and safer food system.

I want to point out that food safety was high on my radar even before I'd come to the FDA. I'd heard about the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative and, upon arrived at the Agency, it was one of the first things I wanted to learn more about. That's in part because it seemed to align closely with the core values that have guided me in my work as a medical and public health professional: to apply the best medical science and most rigorous data to the work; to promote integrity and transparency; and to advance innovation and discovery.

So, when I arrived at the FDA last December, there was no doubt that some of the first people I wanted to speak with were the leaders of FDA's leadership on foods, Frank Yiannas, FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, Susan Mayne, the director of our Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Steve Solomon, the director of our Center for Veterinary Medicine, and Judy McMeekin, the Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs.

These leaders highlighted the enormous opportunities we have to use cutting edge science and technology in support of our ability to help ensure the safety of the American public.

And they explained just how the New Era blueprint intends to do that, by incorporating input from external stakeholders in industry, our state partners, and multiple levels of experts within FDA's foods program.

Building on FSMA

The blueprint outlines a path forward that builds on the work the FDA has already done through implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

As you know, FSMA has been a centerpiece of our work to help ensure food safety and prevent foodborne illnesses through the use of science and risk-based standards. The authority granted by FSMA enables a flexible framework that is adaptable to the changing food environment as science and technologies evolve.

The blueprint we release today represents the next stage in this process — a commitment we are making to the American people that we will work as fast and effectively as we can, as fast and effectively as we can, to help ensure that we have the safest food system in the world.

And we'll do this in part by incorporating the use of the most modern technologies that are already in use in society and the business sector.

Some of this innovation is already creating a revolution in food production, supply, and delivery.

These developments offer great opportunity, but also pose many challenges, some of which are complicated by an increasingly complex global supply chain.

I want to note that while the New Era has a strong emphasis in the application of new technology, it's not just about technology. It's about using that technology to build and put in place more effective approaches and processes.

Enhanced Traceability

I'd like to spend a few minutes going over the core elements of the blueprint.

The first is tech-enabled traceability. This is one of those areas that we've learned during the pandemic has utility beyond our response to outbreaks of foodborne illness.

One of the challenges we've faced over the years is recurring outbreaks of illnesses associated with the consumption of certain foods. What this daunting problem underscores is the critical importance of the FDA working with industry so that we can rapidly trace a contaminated food to its source. And when I say rapidly, I mean minutes, not days, weeks, or even longer.

We want to explore ways to encourage companies to adopt tracing technologies and also to harmonize efforts to follow food from farm to table. We should strive to speak the same language, by espousing similar data standards across government and industry for tracking and tracing a food product.

During the pandemic we realized that widespread traceability provides greater supply chain visibility. This, in turn, can help the FDA and the food industry anticipate the kind of imbalances in the marketplace that led to temporary shortages of certain commodities and created food waste when producers lost customers because restaurants, schools, and other sites temporarily closed.

In addition, enhanced traceability, coupled with advanced analytical tools, could help us spot potential problems in advance and help us prevent or lessen their impact.

Smarter Tools and Approaches for Prevention and Outbreak Response

A second core element of the blueprint involves our ability to draw on the power of new data streams.

One of our most important resources we have today lies in our ability to unleash the power of data. We intend to do everything we can to attain better quality data, conduct a more meaningful analysis of it, and to transform streams of data into more meaningful, strategic, and prevention-oriented actions.

The plans embraced by the blueprint include strengthening our procedures and protocols for conducting the root cause analyses that can identify how a food became contaminated and inform our understanding of how to help prevent that from happening again.

The need for greater traceability and predictive analytics can be seen in our most recent efforts to improve the safety of romaine lettuce and other leafy greens, which have too often been implicated in outbreaks of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) infections.

The repeat nature of these outbreaks illustrates the importance of achieving end-to-end traceability and of maximizing the effectiveness of root cause analyses.

Another example of the kinds of new tools we're developing for prevention can be seen in a pilot program we're conducting that will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to strengthen the agency's review of imported foods at ports of entry to help ensure that they meet U.S. food safety standards.

A proof of concept application of AI and machine learning models to historical shipment data indicates that we can expect very promising results from this pilot.

Imagine having a tool that expedites the clearance of legitimate, compliant shipments and improves by 300 percent our ability to know which shipping container to examine because that container is more likely to have violative products. It would save an immense amount of time, and potentially lives.

New Business Models and Retail Modernization

We're also taking a look at new business models for the production and delivery of food.

In recent years, groceries and meals have increasingly been ordered online and delivered directly to our homes. In the past few months, however, as consumers have heeded stay-at-home recommendations and ordered their food online from restaurants and supermarkets, this trend has skyrocketed.

We must help ensure that as these foods travel to our front doors, they continue to be safe for consumers. That concept is important an any time, but COVID-19 has accelerated the need to establish best practices and an industry standard of care in this area.

New business models include novel ways of producing foods and ingredients, such as cell-cultured food products, and we plan to take a close look at these. We intend to ensure that as food technology evolves, our oversight evolves along with it, to help ensure food safety.

As we look at these business models of the future, we will also be working to help modernize food safety at restaurants and other retail food outlets, which are one of the more frequently cited locations associated with outbreaks of foodborne illness.

FDA research shows the importance of supporting practices in retail establishments known to reduce the risk of food contamination, such as proper handwashing and storing foods at the right temperature. We're committed to exploring new approaches of food safety that go beyond traditional training and inspection.

Many restaurants and other retail outlets have had to temporarily close or change the way they do business during the pandemic. As they start back up and get their bearings, we intend to engage with the retail food industry and our partners in state government to help change practices, including a greater focus on how we motivate behavior changes by retail workers.

We'll also encourage and explore the use of new digital tools that will support food safety practices.

A New Culture of Food Safety

Finally, the blueprint involves a focus on fostering the growth of and strengthening the food safety culture on farms and in food facilities all over the world.

The importance of having a safety culture is something very familiar to me as the administrator of a medical center, as this is a central tenet in efforts to protect hospital patients.

The pandemic has given us a new perspective on what we mean by food safety culture.

We still believe that to make dramatic reductions foodborne disease we must do more to influence and change human behavior, as well as to address how employees think about food safety, and how they demonstrate their commitment to this as part of their jobs.

But a strong culture of food safety involves more than this. It's also about keeping those food workers safe and about educating consumers, who are cooking more at home these days, on safe food handling practices.

We're not just encouraging the food industry to make changes; we're looking within our ranks to see how we can approach these issues differently to better support and advance each of these priority areas.

Tapestry of Wisdom

When I asked Deputy Commissioner Yiannas early on in my tenure about how this blueprint first began to come together, I was impressed to learn that literally hundreds of people were directly involved in its creation.

Not only did the FDA's leadership work closely on this; their staffs participated in a series of brainstorming sessions on how to make the New Era a reality.

They also held a public meeting in which more than 1,500 stakeholders participated or submitted comments via the Federal Register.

This broad input, representing the expertise of food safety experts, the food industry, tech companies, and public health officials from all over the world, led to the development of short- and long-term strategies that we will continue to explore and seek to execute over the next decade.

As I hope you can grasp, I am very excited about the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, the potential it offers, and I look forward to helping advance it to the next stages.

I know that my colleagues at the FDA will be working as quickly and efficiently as possible, and I call on the food industry to do the same. As this work goes forward, we want to hear from you, to ensure that this process remains transparent and collaborative.

That is why we plan to keep you posted on our plans and progress. And, right now, I want to give you two ways you can easily do this.

Please visit, www.fda.gov/smarterfoodsafety and click on the link for e-mail updates. This will ensure that you don't miss any developments as we move forward.

Even more important, I encourage you to go online and read the entire blueprint. And please read it with the understanding that it is a work in progress that requires your input.

As I mentioned at the outset, we know from our experience during the pandemic that the blueprint involves ideas whose time has come. Implementing them will strengthen our ability to protect the food supply in good times and bad. And it will allow us to change as our world changes and the challenges and opportunities of food technology evolve.

But with all this change, I want to assure you that there's one thing that will remain consistent and unchanged, and that's our steadfast commitment to protect the American public.

We look forward to working with all of you to achieve that important goal.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

###

Inquiries

Consumer:
888-INFO-FDA

Food is a big deal at work. Here's how the pandemic will change lunch and snacks - CNN

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:04 AM PDT

Food drives help hundreds of Midvale residents - Midvalejournal

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 11:38 AM PDT

By Sarah Morton Taggart | [email protected]

Hard-to-find items like toilet paper and cleaning supplies are slowly reappearing on grocery store shelves. But what about households that can't afford to buy them?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is available for people experiencing financial hardship. However, common household items, such as cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items and pet food are not eligible through this program.

"A lot of people approached me for help," said Annette Miller, cofounder and director of UnityintheCommUnity, a Midvale-based nonprofit. "So I thought let's have a food drive and try to provide things they cannot purchase with food stamps."

With help from Mayor Robert Hale, Midvale City and Utah Community Action, Miller connected with churches and top corporations in Midvale to gather money, donations and volunteers. 

The first food/commodities drive took place at 97 W. 7500 South on May 9. 

"People really came out of the woodwork to help support us," Miller said. "They really rallied around the Midvale citizens. The state was in red (high risk phase of the coronavirus outbreak) that first Saturday, and we received $3,400 from people who drove over and handed us checks."

In addition to cash, people from Midvale and surrounding communities dropped off food, toilet paper and cleaning supplies.

"We held it at the stake center because it's big," Miller said. "The stake president helped with parking, and all social distance guidelines were followed."

Volunteers processed and organized the donations, and on May 16 Midvale residents were invited to the same location to pick out the items they needed.

"We used a model from New York where people come and 'shop,'" Miller said. "They can go down the aisles and choose the items they want, rather than taking home boxes of preselected items."

Approximately 200 individuals and families participated in the distribution day on May 16. They were then eligible to receive additional fresh food items from the Copperview Food & Resource Center, which is operated by Utah Community Action at 8446 S. Harrison St.  

By the end of the distribution day, the room once filled with donated items was empty. 

As they left, participants took a survey asking what items they would appreciate at the next distribution day. The food drive organizers responded by working to collect different items in June, specifically snack items for kids like string cheese, yogurt, fig bars and graham crackers in addition to items like diapers and cleaning supplies.

Miller noted that Utah Disaster Kleenup and the Wat Munisrirattanir Buddhist temple on 80th South have been particularly generous. 

"Two families from Nepal brought in $200 worth of donated Asian food, and those items were snapped up quickly," Miller said.

UnityintheCommUnity normally provides free math, English, Spanish and citizenship prep courses at locations in Midvale and Taylorsville. The need for social distancing has temporarily halted classes. UnityintheCommUnity has 195 students, many without reliable access to internet. 

"We aren't able to coordinate classes online, but we're still helping with finding jobs and food," Miller said. "Many people lost jobs temporarily. So we're providing resources, including the food drives to keep families afloat."

A third food/commodities drive and distribution day are pending. If organizers are able to gather enough resources, the events will be held the second and third Saturdays in July.

For more information visit UnityintheCommUnity's Facebook page or email [email protected].

"The goal is to get help and cooperation from residents," Miller said. "As members of a community we should help each other."

Online food prices jump as food companies struggle to meet demand - MarketWatch

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 11:32 AM PDT

Online food prices have climbed 4.2% over the past six months according to the latest Adobe Inc. data as grocery e-commerce accelerated amid the COVID-19 pandemic and food producers struggled to keep up with continued high demand.

"We've always thought of the online marketplace as a 'value marketplace' for consumers, meaning consumers can get a bit more bang for their buck, and this is supposed to be a more favorable time of year for them in terms of prices," said Vivek Pandya, digital insights manager at Adobe. "But they aren't getting that relief."

Grocery prices typically go up in the second half of the year as the holidays roll around, Adobe ADBE, -5.09% wrote on its blog. But the increase in food prices was a bit extreme when compared with the latest consumer inflation data.

U.S. online grocery sales rose 9% month-over-month in June, reaching $7.2 billion, according to the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Survey.

That survey found that the June sales increase corresponded with increased concern about contracting coronavirus and as more food retailers offered the option for grocery pickup after ordering online.

See:The meat industry will be completely gone in 15 years, Impossible Foods CEO says

"This increase in online grocery capacity has flipped the equation," said David Bishop, partner and research lead at Brick Meets Click. "Today as shoppers have more choice, the increased capacity is now actually enabling the continued growth of online grocery."

The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reached 3.3 million with Florida counting a record of more than 15,000 new cases on Sunday. The U.S. of death toll is more than 135,000. Some state legislators and public health officials have called for stay-at-home orders as the number of cases surge.

Overall, Adobe found that e-commerce spending was $77 billion higher than expected while inflation has driven digital purchasing power (DPP) into negative territory for the first time ever, "which means consumers can now purchase goods online for $1.01 that would have cost $1.00 in June 2019," Adobe said.

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT, -2.22% is down 3.4% for the year to date. The Invesco Dynamic Food and Beverage ETF PBJ, -0.28% is down 7.4%. And the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.93% has slipped 0.2% for the period.

"Online grocery orders for delivery or curbside collection have grown significantly and we expect online penetration to grow structurally," Fitch Ratings wrote in a report about global corporate recovery from coronavirus.

Read:Grocery prices are rising as eat-at-home demand soars during the pandemic

"Some weaker regional companies with limited investment capacity may be unable to support robust omnichannel models and will lose share to better-capitalized companies."

Adobe notes that grocery cart size has fallen due to a decline in stockpiling and rising online grocery prices after skyrocketing 33% in mid-February .

Even if shoppers aren't pantry-loading any longer, food manufacturers have discussed the struggle to keep up with demand.

Campbell Soup Co. CPB, -0.89% addressed what it sees as the different "cycles" of consumer demand since the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S. on its third-quarter earnings call in June. At first, for example, the company said it saw a 140% increase in demand for ready-to-eat soup, which had a significant impact on manufacturing, said Chief Executive Mark Clouse.

The second phase is related to an increase in cooking from scratch, with Clouse saying that risotto made with tomato soup is a "very, very high demand recipe."

And the final phase is customers trying new products, which is hopefully accompanied by a positive response.

"So the other work that we need to be doing right now is to really understand that optimal assortment and making sure that inventory remains kind of balanced with where demand's going to come from, that we're selective and thoughtful about what that assortment looks like, while making room for innovation that we still believe is going to be important," Clouse said, according to a FactSet transcript.

See:We have plenty of food, so why are grocery store shelves so empty?

Clouse says customers might not see the same number of promotions going forward, something that other food producers, like Conagra Brands Inc. CAG, -1.84% noted as well.

Also:Meat shortage looms as coronavirus shuts packing plants leaving farmers with tough choices

Conagra, on its June 30 call, highlighted the "robust demand" for frozen vegetables.

"Given the incredible surge in demand we experienced during the fourth quarter and our number one brand position, we hit a ceiling on capacity," said Sean Connolly, chief executive of Conagra, according to a FactSet transcript.

Despite the challenges, shoppers don't have to worry about a widespread lack of food.

"There is limited supply-chain risk in this sector, other than some shortages (such as beef) in key food categories," Fitch Ratings said.

Virginia man raises $77K to donate Goya products to food pantries: 'Say no to cancel culture' - Fox Business

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 04:44 AM PDT

Calls to boycott Goya Foods started following a visit from the company's CEO to the White House. However some are now calling for a 'buy-cott' to support the brand. FOX Business' Ashley Webster with more.

A Virginia man has raised $77,000 and counting after starting a GoFundMe page to buy Goya Foods products and donate them to local food pantries after critics called for a boycott over pro-Trump comments from Goya's CEO.

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"People are seeing in the news a double standard for one political view," 27-year-old Casey Harper of Arlington, Va., told FOX Business. "Americans are fundamentally generous people. … I'm not surprised we have raised so much because people are tired of having to walk on eggshells in political discourse."

GOYA FOODS CEO ROBERT UNANUE NOT APOLOGIZING FOR TRUMP SUPPORT AMID BOYCOTT

Harper's GoFundMe had raised $77,530 as of Monday morning after launching Saturday afternoon. Nearly 2,000 people have donated, and the fundraiser blew past its $10,000 goal.

Casey Harper of Arlington, Virginia, started a GoFundMe to buy Goya products and donate them to food banks. (Courtesy: Casey Harper)

Notables including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and chef Jose Andres called for a Goya Foods boycott after CEO Robert Unanue after he praised President Trump at a White House event last week. Goya Foods claims to be the largest Hispanic-owned food label in the country.

Many of the GoFundMe donors said they appreciate Harper's encouragement to "say no to cancel culture," he said.

GOYA FOODS SLAMMED BY AOC, CELEBRITIES AFTER CEO PRAISES TRUMP

"In a time where speaking your mind can cost you your job, or get you facing legal action because the corporate elite fear the mob just as much as anyone, the most important issue is to speak boldly at the risk of your own well-being," Harper said. "If enough people do that, lovers of free speech and limited government will win."

Because the fundraiser has gotten so much traction, Harper said he intends to reach out to Goya and purchase some products directly from the company.

Arlington, Va., resident Casey Harper set up a GoFundMe to buy Goya Foods products and donate them to food pantries. (Casey Harper)

"We're at the point where it's going to be tens of thousands of cans," he said. "I'd like to support local grocery stores at least in part, but I don't know if we'll be able to do that with all the money."

Goya Foods touted its charitable giving on Friday after calls for a boycott. Goya Foods said it has given "two million pounds of food to food banks across the nation who are in desperate need of food for families impacted by COVID19."

Robert Unanue, head of the New Jersey-based company, said Friday the boycott is "a reflection of a division that exists today in our country" that is "killing our nation."

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"We're with the president. We're with this country ⁠— right, left, center, up and down," Unanue told "Varney & Co."

FOX Business' inquiries to Goya Foods were not returned at the time of publication.

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