Food control agency and their roles

By-soumya ranjan dash

&Jyoti prakash

“….the regulatory activity enforce by national or local authorities to provide consumer protection and ensure that all foods during production, handling, storage, processing, and distribution are safe, wholesome and fit for human consumption; conform to safety and quality requirements; and are honestly and accurately labeled as prescribed by law”.

Food control

INTRODUCTION

ØIncreasing burden of foodborne illness and new and emerging foodborne hazards.

Ø Rapidly changing technologies in food production, processing and marketing.

Ø Developing science-based food control systems with a focus on consumer protection.

Ø International food trade and need for harmonization of food safety and quality standards.

What food controller does?

Ø Changes in lifestyles, including rapid urbanization.

Ø Growing consumer awareness of food safety and quality issues and increasing demand for better information.

ØTo enforce the food law(s) protecting the consumer against unsafe, impure and fraudulently food.

§The FAO Emergency Prevention System for Food Safety (EMPRES Food Safety)

§The main aim of EMPRES Food Safety is to prevent and control food safety risks. §EMPRES Food Safety serves FAO members with the three pillars of early warning, emergency prevention and rapid response.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

§Helps to improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices, ensuring good nutrition and food security.

Federal agencies:-

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-(http://www.fda.org.uk/)

•FDA has the broadest and most diverse food safety jurisdiction.•The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)(http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/Home.html)

§ It aims to meet the needs of farmers to promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)(http://www.epa.ie/)

§EPA relies on FDA to enforce pesticide tolerances and on the states to enforce restrictions on pesticide use.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)(http://www.cdc.gov/)

§CDC is responsible for food safety epidemiology.§CDC works through its National Center for Environmental Health to support Public Health Service sanitarians who work on retail food safety.§ The CDC focus on developing and applying disease prevention and control.

SYSTEM FOLLOWED BY AGENCIES:-

X-axis= Years(1961-2005)Y-axis= Percentage of food production( survey done by FDA, report of 2006)

Roles of the agencies

The National Food Safety System provides a wide range of food safety functions includes :

• Outbreak Coordination and Investigation – Developed guidelines, within which federal, state and local agencies could more effectively respond to multi-state foodborne outbreaks

• Roles and Responsibilities for Food Safety

National Food Safety System

• Laboratory Operations – Developed eLEXNET

• Uniform Standards – Developed uniform criteria for evaluating the capacityand performance of local, state or federal regulatory programs for retail foods,meat and poultry, seafood and manufactured foods regulatory programs.

• State Food Safety Task Force

• Examination of State Minimum Standards

State Roles and ResponsibilitiesState level agencies perform a wide range of food safety functions,including:

• Outbreak Response and Recalls: States often have lead responsibility, in collaboration with local health departments and sometimes CDC, on large-scale outbreak investigations. States also implement recalls, often in collaboration with federal and local regulatory agencies.

• Surveillance: States have important responsibility for ongoing foodborneillness surveillance, working both independently and in collaboration with CDC and localities on FoodNet, PulseNet, OutbreakNet, and other surveillance initiatives.

• Laboratory Testing: State laboratories conduct the majority of all food-related laboratory testing.

• Retail and Food Service Inspection: While retail and food service safety oversight is largely conducted by local agencies, some state agencies are involved instandard setting and inspection of retail and food service establishments.

• Processing Inspections: States conduct more than 80 percent of all non-retail food establishment inspections, other than in meat and poultry establishments, including the majority of “FDA inspections.” These inspections are conducted by state agencies under contract with FDA.

• Farm Inspections: States conduct on-farm inspections for animal health and other conditions related to food safety,

• Technical and Training Assistance

• Education

There are thousands of local health departments and food inspection agencies are present across the country and they are best known for their primary role in preventing foodborne illness through regulation and inspection, they perform a wide range of food safety functions, including:

Local Roles and Responsibilities

• Outbreak Response and Recalls: Local agencies are the first responders and lead investigators on local outbreaks and are actively involved with state and federal agencies on larger, multijurisdictional outbreaks.

• Surveillance: Local agencies have frontline responsibility for reporting foodborne diseases and other local activities essential to on-going foodborneillness.

• Laboratory Testing: Local agencies carry out food safety laboratory functions.

• Retail and Food Service Licensing and Inspections: Local agencies conduct licensing and have an extensive role in food safety inspections of grocery stores and restaurants to ensure good sanitation and other food safety standards are observed

• Technical and Training Assistance

• Education

Federal, State and Local Collaboration on Food Safety

• federal collaboration with state and local food safety agencies

the result that federal, state and local programs are today intertwined and interdependent in many ways.

This interdependency and collaboration is illustrated by the following examples related to foodborne illness surveillance, outbreak investigation and response, and regulatory and inspection activities.

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Foodborne Illness Surveillance• Emerging Infections Program(EIP)

• FoodNet (Active Foodborne Disease Surveillance System): #FoodNet is a collaborative effort among the CDC, FDA, USDA. #used to follow nine major food-borne diseases#Infection caused by nine pathogens (Campylobacter,Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia).

• PulseNet (National Molecular Surveillance Network)#established by Centers for Disease Control

• Epi-X: Run by the CDC, Epi-X is a web-based surveillance communicationstool for public health professionals.

• eLEXNET :# The Electronic Laboratory Exchange Network (eLEXNET) is a seamless, integrated, web-based information network. #It is coordinated by FDA,

Outbreak Response• OutbreakNet: OutbreakNet is a national CDC-coordinated network ofpublic health who investigate outbreaks of enteric disease, including foodborneoutbreaks.

• The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR): #This Council Responseible for a multidisciplinary working that to improve performance and coordination among local, state and federal agencies

• Epi-Ready: Epi-Ready is a nationwide team-training initiative, led by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Environmental Health Association, which provides up-to-date foodborne disease outbreak investigation and surveillance training to public and private sector.

• CAL-FERT: The California Food Emergency Response Team (CalFERT) is anoutbreak emergency response team of investigators and analysts that engage incollaborative training and investigation of foodborne outbreaks.

#The Council includes CDC, FDA, USDA, ASTHO, NACCHO, AFDO,APHl, CSTE , and NEHA.

Inspection and Regulatory Activities• FDA’s Food Code: It is a model that provides state and local food safety agencies with a sound technical and legal basis for regulating the retail and food service segment of the industry (restaurants and grocery stores and institutions such as nursing homes).

• FDA Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program

• FDA-State Cooperative Inspection Agreements:# State employees carry out inspections at food processing plants under federal-state cooperative inspection Agreements.#These Inspections are performed under the States’ laws and authorities orthe provisions of the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) or both.

• Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards: #FDA-sponsored program#It establishes a uniform foundation for the design and management of Stateprograms for the regulation of food processing plants.

Food food absolutely appetisingFood food absolutely tantalisingThe way it makes your stomach jump at its mentionThe way it melts on your tongue when you go to taste itThe way the mouth waters at its mention or sightingThe uncontrollable breathing for some impatient peopleAs the food is prepared the intensity of its appealTherace to the table to secure a seat at the buffetTheenjoyment as the food passes down the throatWith a nice cold drink to was it down withHow quickly everyone disappears at the sight of empty dirty dishesFood food absolutely appetisingFoodfood absolutely tantalising

FOOD

I love food, I love foodIt makes me feel really goodYummy and nutritious foodKeeps me in a superb moodFoodis a gift from aboveA sign of His assuring loveLet us not waste this treasureLet‘s be thankful for this pleasureI want the whole world to knowHow it makes me go, grow and glowJust eat healthy and nutritious foodAndit would do you goodI love food, I love food.

I LOVE FOOD

Meals are the food for the body; Knowledge is the food for the mind; Meditation is the food for the spirit; Music is the food for the love of heart; Dreams are the food for the consciousness; Prayer is the food for the Almighty; Love is the food for the living heart; Thoughts are the food for the brain; Colourful ink is the food for the pen; Ideas are the food for the stories; Truth is the food for the will; Sun’s energy is the food for the plants; Plants are the food for the living beings; But one man’s food is another man’s poison!!

A FOOD FOREVERYTHING

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