GMA launches food safety website
website to guide policy debate on the issue of food safety for
decision makers in the field, as well as with media and consumers.
Keepfoodsafe.org elaborates GMA's standpoint with regards to food safety policy in the US as the organization aims to influence political decisions that will favor a well-funded and newly organized US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), without at the same time overly constraining food manufacturers. Food safety became a key consumer and policy issue in 2007 as contaminated imports were revealed on several occasions and government and industry desperately sought to quell consumer fears. Representing an industry worth approximately $2.1 trillion in food, beverage and consumer packaged goods, GMA has on the one hand been advocating for industry's interests and urging against certain measures, such as registration fees for manufacturers. On the other hand, the organization has been blaming an under-funded FDA for severe lapses in food safety. On its new website, GMA in particular promotes the 2008 Safe FEAST Act, which would amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by giving FDA more jurisdiction to clamp down on contaminated foods. "There has never been a better time for Congress to pass and implement a new plan to modernize our nation's food safety system, prevent problems before they arise and strengthen the oversight of the agencies that regulate our food supply," said GMA senior vice president and chief science & regulatory affairs officer Robert Brackett. Last year, Chinese food and cosmetic imports were the first to be put under the negative spotlight associated with contamination cases involving products from pet food to toothpaste. This uncovered other cases that have left manufacturers under pressure to demonstrate they source responsibly. On keepfoodsafe.org, GMA hammers home the idea that FDA is dangerously under funded, by drawing from the agency's own report - "FDA Science and Mission at Risk: Report of the Subcommittee on Science and Technology": "The Food and Drug Administration is so under-funded and understaffed that it's putting US consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety... The most glaring is that the FDA lost 600 inspectors in the past four years, making the agency unable to protect the country's food supply. And the FDA's responsibilities have grown, rendering the agency ineffective." The Safe Feast Act is a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Jim Costa (California, Democrat) and Adam Putnam (Florida, Republican) that would among things:
give FDA mandatory recall power;
require food companies to conduct a food safety risk analysis that FDA would be able to review in any case of contaminated food;
require food importers to document food safety measures being carried out by their foreign suppliers and in turn make this foreign supplier food safety plan available to FDA;
create a registry of private laboratories meeting FDA standards;
require that FDA work more closely with major exporters to the US so as to help build their scientific and regulatory capacity;
implement a risk-based approach to border inspections, with the private sector identifying imports in need of greater scrutiny, as well as a voluntary program giving quick access to imports that pose no meaningful risk;
give FDA the power to establish mandatory safety standards for fruits and vegetables.
