the worldwide movement of food and animal products: second guessing response to threats

Safeguarding Animal HealthSafeguarding Animal Health


As of Friday, the harsh statistics of this epidemic had reached 39 dead and over 3,517 sick, 839 of them with life-threatening kidney disease.

…shortcomings in the food safety system…fresh produce does not receive enough attention under the current food safety system.


Identify the vast flow of food, animals, and animal products exported and imported into the country.

Discuss the protective mechanisms in place to ensure the safety of these products.

Identify the threats to the flow of products and response methods in place to match those threats.


Sourcing of foods and ingredients reaching out to world markets15% of U.S. food supply is currently imported> 75% of our seafood originates outside of the U.S.> 60% of our fresh produceAccording to USDA ERS the volume of imported food has seen a dramatic increase over the last 10 years and will continue to rise

Source: USDA Economic Research Service http://www.ers.usda.gov


According to the CDC, food imports to the United States have almost doubled in the past decade, from $36 billion in 1997 to more than $70 billion in 2007.FDA inspectors now sample just 1.3 percent of all imported food shipments entering the country.Imported foods now comprise 13 percent of the American diet, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Just 1.3% of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and other foods are inspected — yet those government inspections regularly reveal food unfit for human consumption.Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the Philippines — the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food and Drug Administration stretches on.One month in 2007 FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish, vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues ranging from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella.Each year, the average American eats about 260 pounds of imported foods, including processed, ready-to-eat products and single ingredients.


According to the FDA, there are currently 226,377 foreign food establishments in over 150 countries that are registered to export food products to the U.S. The FDA opened the first of its three China offices in Beijing in late 2008, and then in the cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, to provide greater oversight, additional inspections and collaboration regarding food, pharmaceuticals medical devices and cosmetics that are exported to the United States. China is the fourth largest exporter of food to the U.S.


Exporting Food Products from the United StatesFirms exporting products from the United States are often asked by foreign customers or foreign governments to supply an "export certificate" for products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Please note that:

FDA does not require that you obtain an export certificate, FDA is not required by law to issue export certificates (although the agency intends to continue to provide this service as resources permit), and FDA does not issue certificates for food manufactured outside the U.S.

If you export food, it is your responsibility to:

follow U.S. laws and regulations, and

follow the requirements of the countries to which you export.


Export a Live Animal (includes semen, embryos...) or Animal Product

International health certificates for the export of animals from the United States are completed by an accredited veterinarian who certifies herd and animal health status, conducts tests, and records test results for the individual animals being exported. Complete and signed international health certificates for the export of animals from the United States must be endorsed by a Veterinary Services area office in order to be valid.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services (VS) has created the International Animal Product Export Regulations (IREGS) to provide exporters with our best understanding of importing countries requirements for certain animal-origin products.


Partial list of animals and animal products exported to other countries daily

Cattle (dairy heifers, beef, rodeo stock, others), horses, poultry, swine, elk, deer, emu, ostrich, othersPets (all varieties)Hides/skins (fresh chilled untreated)SemenEmbryosSerum (bovine, equine, etc.)Bone gelPet & zoo animal food & chews (Hill’s, Diamond, Purina, Iams, Zoopreem, others)Cell cultures (female New Zealand white rabbit microsomes, etc)Technical blood (equidae & non-equidae)Colostrum for animal consumptionInedible beef tallow


2001- outbreak of salmonella in Mexican cantaloupes killed two people and sickened 25 others across 15 states.2003- Mexican green onions in salsa at Chi Chi’s Restaurant killed 6 people with > 600 sick from rare fulminant hepatitis A disease.2006- an outbreak of nonfatal scombroid fish poisoning linked to tuna steaks imported from Vietnam and Indonesia sickened 15 people in Louisiana and Tennessee. 2007- wheat gluten from China that contained the toxic chemical melamine and was used as an additive in pet food sold under more than 100 brand names. Hundreds of dogs and cats died; 3 million broiler chickens had been fed the contaminated surplus pet food and then had been sold to restaurants and supermarkets across the country.2007- a salmonella outbreak caused Dole Fresh Fruit Co. to recall roughly 6,104 cartons of imported cantaloupes from Costa Rica that were distributed to wholesalers in the eastern United States…


June 18, Associated Press – (Wisconsin) Bacteria that sickened 16 matches Wis. farm's. June 18, Food Safety News – (Illinois) Staph found in Illinois bakery tied to outbreak. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was found inside a Chicago-area cake bakery June 17, Associated Press – (North Carolina; Ohio) Earth Fare burgers recalled in Akron, Ohio. Earth Fare of Fletcher, North Carolina, recalled its frozen Natural Spicy Bean Burgers because of possible salmonella contamination.


June 23, Food Safety News – (National) Two more seafood processors with violations. Vacuum-packed cold smoked mackerel from Auburn, Washington, and ready-to-eat lobster meat products, tuna and pasteurized crabmeat products from Middletown, Rhode Island, are among the latest seafoods to be found adulterated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). June 23, Food Safety News – (Maryland) FDA shuts down Maryland kimchi maker. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced June 22 that Sungwon Inc. of Columbia, Maryland, corporation, and the company's president have signed a consent decree of permanent injunction, which shuts down company operations.


In April 2007, FDA determined a shipment of rice protein imported from China was contaminated with melamine The rice protein was used in the production of pet food and animal feedFSIS, FDA, and APHIS worked together to determine if a public health threat existed:

FSIS role: animal inspection prior to slaughter and assisting FDA in tracing adulterated feedFDA role: monitoring safety of animal feedAPHIS role: determine if products from affected animals could enter the food supply


In May 2007, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled ground water in Nevada for polonium 210Test results showed one aquifer, which supplied drinking water to livestock at two dairy operations, contained polonium 210FSIS, FDA, and APHIS worked together to determine if a public health threat existed:

FSIS role: ensure the safety and wholesomeness of meat and meat productsFDA role: ensure the safety of milk and milk productsAPHIS role: determine if products from affected animals could enter the food supply

Safeguarding Animal HealthSafeguarding Animal Health30


Overt terroristsPiratesOppressive governmentsThievesBoycottsTrade barriersPolitical ramifications


Terrorism in the UK


Began in 2000Informal network of Federal agencies Participants are analysts responsible for analyzing threat information and coordinating/ responding to Food and Agriculture incidentsFacilitates information sharing


In July 2005, the National Science and Technology Council invited several Federal agencies to establish the FADT Subcommittee

Foreign animal disease threats of high economic consequence (> $10B)Diseases capable of temporally and geographically impacting existing mitigation systems


Three working groups: Foreign Animal

Disease Modeling Countermeasure

Development (vaccines and diagnostics)

Decontamination and Disposal


Requires effective communication & collaboration to identify threats to plan for and respond to incidents to recover quickly


Corporate espionageProfit driveCostsIntentional contamination


The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4th, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it.

Most sweeping overhaul of the food safety system since 1938.Law reflects risk-based integrated global systems approachProvisions covering:

PreventionInspection and ComplianceResponseImportsEnhanced Partnerships


For the first time, FDA will have a legislative mandate to require comprehensive, science-based preventive controls across the food supply. This mandate includes:

Mandatory preventive controls for food facilities (Final rule due 18 months following enactment)

Mandatory produce safety standards (Final regulation due about 2 years following enactment)

Authority to prevent intentional contamination (Final rule due 18 months following enactment)


The FSMA recognizes that preventive control standards improve food safety only to the extent that producers and processors comply with them. Therefore, it will be necessary for FDA to provide oversight, ensure compliance with requirements and respond effectively when problems emerge. FSMA provides FDA with important new tools for inspection and compliance, including:

Mandated inspection frequencyWithin one year of enactment, the law directs FDA to inspect at least 600 foreign facilities and double those inspections every year for the next five years.

Records accessTesting by accredited laboratories

(Establishment of accreditation program due 2 years after enactment)


The FSMA recognizes that FDA must have the tools to respond effectively when problems emerge despite preventive controls. New authorities include:

Mandatory recallExpanded administrative detention

(administrative detention is the procedure FDA uses to keep suspect food from being moved).

Suspension of registration(Effective 6 months after enactment)

Enhanced product tracing abilities(Implementation of pilots due 9 months after enactment)

Additional Recordkeeping for High Risk Foods(Implementation due 2 years after enactment).


The FSMA gives FDA unprecedented authority to better ensure that imported products meet U.S. standards and are safe for U.S. consumers. New authorities include:

Importer accountability(Final regulation and guidance due 1 year following enactment)

Third Party Certification(Establishment of a system for FDA to recognize accreditation bodies is due 2 years after enactment)

Certification for high risk foodsVoluntary qualified importer program

(Implementation due 18 months after enactment) Authority to deny entry


The FSMA builds a formal system of collaboration with other government agencies, both domestic and foreign. In doing so, the statute explicitly recognizes that all food safety agencies need to work together in an integrated way to achieve our public health goals. The following are examples of enhanced collaboration:

State and local capacity buildingForeign capacity buildingReliance on inspections by other agencies

Additional partnerships are required to develop and implement a national agriculture and food defense strategy, to establish an integrated consortium of laboratory networks, and to improve foodborne illness surveillance.


FDA has released the 4th edition of the “Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance.” It contains FDA’s latest recommendations to the seafood industry for reducing or eliminating food safety hazards in the fish and fishery products they process. The guidance fulfills a requirement of the FSMA.


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the worldwide movement of food and animal products: second guessing response to threats

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