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As the newly appointed deputy commissioner for food safety at the FDA, Michael Taylor has a lot on his plate. Many different things to accomplish, not least of which a ramped up, more proactive approach to food safety within the agencies of government. Perhaps the creation of a unified governmental body for all things
A question about the FDA’s Reportable Food Registry
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On Tuesday, the FDA certainly took a step in the right direction by implementing the Reportable Food Registry, under federal regulations codified at 21 USC 350f. The FDA’s action essentially requires any food producer who knows of a microbial risk (e.g. bacteria or virus that can make you sick) in a food it produced
Three strains of E. coli O157:H7 found in cookie plant
ABC News reported today that three separate strains of E. coli O157:H7 have been found in a Nestle USA cookie dough processing plant. ABC’s Briant Hartman writes about the E. coli testing:
Those tests, according to sources familiar with the investigation and confirmed by the FDA, determined the genetic fingerprint of the E. coli found
Department of Justice Closes Cheese Plant
In a press release issued July 7, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had filed a complaint seeking an injunction against Peregrina Cheese, Inc, of Brooklyn, NY, and two of its officers. If granted by the Court, the injunction would temporarily stop the company from manufacturing and distributing food.
According to the complaint, which was filed on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company has a history of producing cheese contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen. A search of the FDA website revealed that FDA has cited insanitary conditions at the Peregrina Cheese factory several times over the last five years, and that Peregrina Cheese has recalled cheese products for Listeria contamination in the past.
Listeria is the common name for the pathogenic or disease-causing bacterium known as Listeria monocytogenes. It is a foodborne illness that when ingested causes an infection known as listeriosis. Approximately 2,500 illnesses and 500 deaths are attributed to listeriosis in the United States annually.
In the DOJ press release, FDA acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, Michael Chappell, stated:
This company has consistently failed to make corrections to improve the insanitary conditions under which it processes cheese products, despite frequent warnings to do so. The FDA will not tolerate food companies that fail to provide adequate safeguards.
According to the complaint, FDA and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) inspections have revealed violations of current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements for foods. Inspectors have noted such food safety violations as standing water in food processing equipment and a dead rodent inside the plant. NYSDAM has also assessed fines against the company.
Continue Reading Department of Justice Closes Cheese Plant
Nonfat Dry Milk Is Third Ingredient Recall Of Year: Follows Model FDA Used With Peanuts And Pistachios
For the third time this year, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is carefully orchestrating a “voluntary recall” of all products containing a certain ingredient.
This time it is products with nonfat dry milk produced by the Minnesota-based Plainview Milk Products Cooperative that are the main targets of the recall.
Plainview Milk also made
Food Safety Enhancement Act Passes Committee
The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 passed out of Committee in the House today, without opposition. The full House is expected to vote on the bill before the July 4th recess.
According to an article in The Packer, the bill is receiving some lukewarm support -or at least, something less than all out
Health Subcommittee Sends Food Safety Reform Bill To Full Committee: Vote Next Week
After years of just listening those injured and the survivors of those killed by outbreaks of food-borne illnesses in the United States, the House Health Subcommittee finally took some action today.
On the back of deal that halves the amount of a new registration fee for food producing facilities, the Subcommittee was able to send
Another Voice Calling for Strengthening and Funding of FDA
Count the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury News as another vote in support of reform for the FDA. This editorial outlines the fight against the bill being put up by the food industry and their Republican supporters.
As I discussed here last week, food industry lobbyists and Republicans are now balking at several desperately
Bill Aims To Return FDA To “The Gold Standard” In Protecting Public Health
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is out with a discussion draft of “the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.”
Given who’s signed on to this one, it’s probably the one to watch. Sponsors include Chair Emeritus John D. Dingell, Chairs Henry A. Waxman, Frank Pallone, and Bart Stupak, and Reps. Diana DeGette and Betty Sutton.
The new draft is based on the food reforms contained in H.R. 759, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009, introduced in January by Reps. Dingell, Stupak and Pallone. Favored bills get heard quickly, and this one gets its first hearing next week, on Wednesday, June 3rd.
"As evidenced by the recent widespread contaminations in our food supply, including E.coli in spinach, salmonella in peppers and the most recent outbreak of salmonella in peanut butter, it is clear that we must act now," said Rep. Pallone, Chair of the Health Subcommittee. "This draft builds on legislation introduced earlier this year and will empower the FDA with the resources and authorities it needs to ensure that our food is safe to eat. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and the administration to move this crucial piece of legislation forward
"Our 10 food safety hearings in the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations have highlighted the need for an overhaul of our food safety laws," said Rep. Stupak, Chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. "The American people deserve a Food and Drug Administration that has both the funding and the regulatory authority needed to protect our food supply and hold the food industry accountable. President Obama and the new FDA leadership have expressed a commitment to food safety reform and I look forward to working with them to return FDA to the gold standard in protecting the public health."
A detailed summary of the draft follows below.
Continue Reading Bill Aims To Return FDA To “The Gold Standard” In Protecting Public Health
FDA Perspective: More collaboration needed to promote food safety
In a "Perspective" piece published online by the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday, May 26, the new Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., and Principal Deputy Commissioner of FDA, Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D., wrote about their vision for the future of how the FDA will operate