As a food industry advocate, I was honored to be invited to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) headquarters in Washington, D.C., to present at the agency’s most recent public meeting on allergen control. While many USDA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulators spoke about the issue of allergen control and regulation from the perspective of the federal government, I was asked to address the issue from the perspective of the food industry.
During my comments, I was certain to remind the audience that the food industry remains a key player in a food-safety revolution that began in 1993, following the large-scale foodborne illness outbreak that sickened 600 and killed four people on the West Coast. Ever since that outbreak occurred, the food industry has been the focus of continuous improvement in foodborne illness outbreak surveillance, a continuing battle against emerging pathogens and new food-safety expectations, laws, regulations and policies.