10 replies to this topic

[Simon]

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

There seem to be a hell of a lot of recalls on the above page. I wonder is this a good or bad sign? Is it possible for a food safety system to be so watertight it outputs perfectly safe product, 100% of the time?

Regards,
Simon

[Lion Maru]

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

There seem to be a hell of a lot of recalls on the above page.  I wonder is this a good or bad sign?  Is it possible for a food safety system to be so watertight it outputs perfectly safe product, 100% of the time?

Regards,
Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Simon, the recall section on the FDA site is only the tip of the iceberg - dig deeper the majority of recall in the states aren't recorded on the FDA site - there are agencies in individual states and FDA isn't the only federal agency - FSIS and the EPA are two others that exporters may need to consider.

Within the USA I understood that an individual state is under no federal obligation to inform FDA or FSIS if an unsafe food/feed product is detected - that is if the distribution of the product in question is restricted to the manufacturing/processing state and does not cross state borders.

And the majority of food stopped at external borders is stopped because of inadequate or misleading labelling - rather than the safety of the product itself.

Not really an answer to your question - but an observation - also have a look at the discrepancies between the USA systems and the RASSF / EFSA alerts - which begs only more questions about global food safety...

[Simon]

Hi LM,

For interest do you have web links for FSIS, EPA, RASSF, EFSA?

Is anyone willing to share how and where you report your product recalls / alerts (no names, no pact drill).

Regards,
Simon

[Lion Maru]

EFSA - European Food Safety Authority

http://www.efsa.eu.int/

RASFF - Rapid alert System for Food and Feed (sorry typo in the previous posting)

http://europa.eu.int...rt/index_en.htm

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency (responsible for water in the US - potable and non-potable - I've yet to find their alert system)

http://www.epa.gov/

FSIS (responsible for monitoring commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products in US)

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

[Simon]

Thanks a lot LM, I'll check them out when I get a chance.

Regards,
Simon

[Lion Maru]

Thanks a lot LM, I'll check them out when I get a chance. 

Regards,
Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might also be interested in this:

"US senator Dick Durbin (Democrat IL) and Congresswoman Rosa L. De Lauro (Democrat CT) introduced legislation earlier this year (see attached Bill) that would create a single agency in the US responsible for food safety (currently being handled by 12 federal agencies). The legislation calls for the development of a Food Safety Administration and the implementation of a food safety program to standardize activities of the US food supply chain.

If approved, the new entity will have USD1.9 billion available in 2005 for the creation of the new Food Safety Agency. Some of the responsibilities of the Food Safety Administration (FSA) will be:
random inspections of all US processing plants
categorized review process for all foods to monitor and inspect them based on their risk (not just their name as it is currently done)
increased oversight of imported foods
establish requirements for tracing foods to point of origin

The FSA is expected to start with approx. 14,250 staff."

File is a copy of the proposed bill - 89 pages

Attached Files

•  Food_Safety_USA_Bill_1.pdf   160.23KB   73 downloads

[Simon]

The FSA is expected to start with approx. 14,250 staff."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow that's some food safety machine. It makes a lot of sense though to have one central body.

Thanks for the update LM.

Regards,
Simon


By the way is this you?
 lomk001.jpeg   45.66KB   66 downloads

[Lion Maru]

"By the way is this you?"

Not a particularly flattering likeness but yes..... 1970's Japanese kids to show about a man who can turn into a Lion - not greatly different from the classic show "monkey".

Back on topic as Bush got re-elected and this is a democrat proposal I wouldn't have thought it stands much chance of success.... interesting though

[Simon]

Not a particularly flattering likeness but yes.....  1970's Japanese kids to show about a man who can turn into a Lion - not greatly different from the classic show "monkey".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't remember watching that one. Monkey now that was a real classic.

Back on topic as Bush got re-elected and this is a democrat proposal I wouldn't have thought it stands much chance of success.... interesting though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah yes, maybe now they'll have to wait for four more years.

Regards,
Simon

[Simon]

Food alerts from the UK Food Standards Agency.

http://www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/alerts/

Regards,
Simon

[xiaojianguo]

I comes from China . B) Merry Christmas! B) all SDF members are great,i have learned so much about HACCP and food safety in SDF.thank you! B)