All foodborne illness is local-or much of it anyway

摘要

Don't let me distract you as you work diligently to implement the new food safety regulations, as food makers cobble together effective preventive controls programs and food packaging makers fret over just how to provide verification of their compliance. But I do want to point out that the whole effort might have less effect on foodborne illness than you might think. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 is widely touted as the biggest change to food safety law in decades, and it probably is, and I unreservedly encourage all packagers and food makers to be in full compliance with its requirements. But FSMA is directed in most of its provisions at food manufacturers regulated by FDA. And if food safety is your goal, you can't overlook the local angle, that is, the many thousands of sites such as restaurants, grocers, vending machines, and cafeterias-the places that are on the front lines for local regulators more than for FDA.