Food safety demands integrated data collection/sharing throughout supply chain
“We also believe there is an advantage to be gained by creation of an independent federal institute for food safety risk analysis,” says Morris. “It would be comprised of the majority of scientists and analysts currently within FDA, CDC and USDA food safety groups and tasked with supporting a risk-based food system through integrated research, data collection and analysis. That is the model from European countries with strong food safety systems.”
A key recommendation of the report is the annual publication of a unified cross-agency report on tracking foodborne pathogens in humans, animals, food and feed. To be produced by the CDC, FDA and the USDA, the annual analyses would summarize surveillance data on human foodborne illnesses-including outbreaks and sporadic cases-and on pathogen contamination in domestic and imported animals, food and feed.