Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply isn’t a solitary endeavor; it’s a shared commitment that involves government, industry, academic experts and advocacy groups. In my role as USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, I embrace this philosophy in partnering with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to ensure our meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.

My career as a food safety policy expert began with the 1992-1993 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. At the time, I was a consultant for AARP, working on a range of consumer protection projects. The E.coli outbreak profoundly shocked the country. What most people thought of as a few days of tummy troubles could, in fact, be fatal. Four children died in this outbreak, and more than 700 people became ill with serious infections caused by E. coli O157:H7. This outbreak underscored how vulnerable older adults were to serious foodborne illness, and I convinced AARP to get involved in this issue. Ultimately, USDA declared the lethal strain of E. coli to be an adulterant, an action that enabled the department to prevent any meat contaminated with this pathogen from entering commerce. I helped write a friend of the court brief for AARP that supported USDA’s action, and a court upheld USDA’s adulteration declaration. The outbreak led to new food safety regulations, known as the Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) rule, that prompted changes in meat and poultry industry practices.

Now, here I am, more than 30 years after the outbreak, serving as a top food safety official at USDA. While I have shifted my position from external advocate to inside decision-maker, I have brought with me my philosophy that collaborative efforts can often result in the best policy outcome.

FSIS has employed a collaborative approach in reconsidering how we regulate Salmonella contamination in poultry. We have sought extensive input from a wide range of stakeholders on important questions, such as why our testing has shown reduced product contamination but there has been no meaningful reduction in human Salmonella illnesses. In 2022, FSIS shared a draft framework for a new comprehensive strategy to reduce Salmonella illnesses. We have made collaboration central to this process, with public meetings, partnered risk assessments and public comments integral to our Salmonella framework development.

As a first step towards a new approach to reducing Salmonella in poultry, FSIS proposed in 2023 to declare Salmonella an adulterant at 1 CFU/g (colony forming unit per gram) in not-ready-to-eat breaded, stuffed raw chicken products. Why did we begin with this particular chicken product? Because more than 14 outbreaks have been linked to this product and changes in labeling to better inform consumers have not led to a reduction in related illnesses. FSIS’ consumer research shows that some people do not realize these products contain raw chicken because the outside is browned and may appear cooked.

In addition to ensuring that products under our jurisdiction are safe, our governing laws require that we make sure that product labels are truthful and not misleading. In this area, we are involved in multiple initiatives.

First, we are working on a proposed rule on cell-cultured meat and poultry product labeling. Until we have a final labeling rule, we are reviewing the labels of these products to ensure they meet consumer expectation. Second, for meat products, we are reevaluating how we define “Product of USA” claims. We expect to publish a final rule in 2024 to define conditions for using the label claim “Product of USA.” Third, we are updating our guidance document that addresses substantiation of “animal-raising claims” such as “pasture raised” and “grass fed.” We are also focusing on the popular claim “raised without antibiotics” and partnering with our colleagues at the Agricultural Research Service on a sampling project to determine whether cattle destined for the “raised without antibiotics” market are, in fact, antibiotic free. These three initiatives demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that consumers can be confident that they have the reliable information they need to make informed decisions for themselves and their families.

FSIS must constantly strive to use the latest in science and technology to effectively control foodborne pathogens, address emerging challenges and harness our collective talents to advance public health. But we can’t do it alone. Collaboration is key and food safety is a responsibility we all must embrace.

Then and Now

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