"Exploring Implications of Mandatory Safety Standards"

Assessing the potential implications of mandatory produce safety standards and identify insights into how standards might best be shaped today as a result of exploring these implications.

Every year in the United States, foodborne illnesses cause sickness, death and significant economic and social costs that extend beyond the immediate victims. To address these issues, President Obama recently created a Food Safety Working Group tasked with determining how to reduce foodborne illness. In the meantime, The Produce Safety Project at Georgetown University has urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish mandatory safety standards for fresh produce.

However, there are significant inherent challenges in the implementation and enforcement of safety standards, primarily due to multiple stakeholder involvement, increased complexities in the food production and distribution chains and fragmentation of oversight responsibilities.

This article by Booz Allen Hamilton's Susan Penfield, Lucy Stribley and Mike Breck was published in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Food Safety Magazine.   Download a PDF copy of "Exploring Implications of Mandatory Safety Standards."

article posted December 16, 2009