Protecting the Nation's Fruits and Vegetables:
How Should the System Be Strengthened?
About this Paper
Reports of illness linked to a Salmonella outbreak continue to grow, with 943 cases in 40 states and the District of Columbia identified from mid-April to July 4, 2008. Raw tomatoes remain the prime suspect but the investigation has been broadened to other produce as well. This is only the latest in a recent series of widespread, pathogen-linked outbreaks associated with fruits or vegetables along the "farm-to-fork" continuum that encompasses harvesting, packing, processing, transporting, distribution, and preparation.
The statutes that govern the activities of the FDA, which is responsible for produce safety, are generally focused on the agency's response after food safety challenges occur. Most proposals for reform, by contrast, promote a public health approach that emphasizes the risk-based science of prevention. Recommendations to strengthen the nation's food safety system include establishing and enforcing science-based standards for produce safety; making it easier to trace contaminated fruits and vegetables back to their source; emphasizing industry accountability; increasing domestic and foreign inspections; monitoring imports more closely; increasing FDA's resources; and updating the statutes governing its authority
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For more information about food safety, contact:
Michael R. Taylor, JD
Research Professor of Health Policy, Department of Health Policy
School of Public Health and Health Services
The George Washington University
2021 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-530-3922
mike.taylor@gwumc.edu
About the Rapid Public Health Policy Response Project:
The Rapid Public Health Policy Response Project of the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University presents data and other background information on breaking public health stories. The goal is to educate the public, policymakers, legislators, health care providers, the media and others in order to promote informed decisionmaking.
About the George Washington University Medical Center:
The George Washington University Medical Center is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary academic health center that has consistently provided high-quality medical care in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for 176 years. The Medical Center comprises the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the 11th oldest medical school in the country; the School of Public Health and Health Services, the only such school in the nation's capital; GW Hospital, jointly owned and operated by a partnership between The George Washington University and Universal Health Services, Inc.; and the GW Medical Faculty Associates, an independent faculty practice plan. For more information on GWUMC, visit www.gwumc.edu
