Focus, Proactivity Key To U.S. FDA Food

Medical News Today: Focus, Proactivity Key To U.S. FDA Food Safety

In addition to an increasing amount of food products streaming into the country from an ever-expanding global market, consumers' expectations of safe food are also changing.

"Consumers demand a lot," said Acheson. "They are driving the global market and they want fresh, safe food 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

A head of lettuce that requires at-home washing is off consumers' wish lists, he said. They want their lettuce shredded, bagged and delivered, and this shift in consumer habits is "adding a new dimension to potential food safety problems."

Acheson emphasized that communication with local agencies is crucial to getting the job done.

"We still have one of the safest food supplies in the world. Overall the
rate of foodborne illness and outbreaks are unchanged," he said, but consumers lack confidence that their food is still not as safe as it can be.

He attributes this dilemma to "getting the word out faster," adding that news media has been helpful in the effort to remove contaminated products from the shelf but not in "closing the loop in communication" to give the public follow-up coverage on the outcome.

"The media have to acknowledge that there is responsibility in industry."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/78554.php