FSIS Initiatives Overview

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Farm to Fork FSIS Initiatives
Heather Hicks Quesenberry Food Safety Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture
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.
The United States has the best food production,
processing and inspection systems in the world.
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However, the system is not perfect.
Continual Threats!
Listeria monocytogenes
Salmonella
E. coli O157H7
Campylobacter
Food safety continues to be a serious matter.
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USDAs Responsibility
Jurisdiction over products that generate more
than 120 billion in sales annually.
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Inspections of Food Animals and Egg Products Per
Year
39 million cattle and calves
97 million swine
3.5 million sheep and lambs
8 BILLION poultry and fowl
3.2 BILLION pounds of liquid egg products
3.8 BILLION pounds of imported product
re-inspected
Graph is not drawn to scale.
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FSIS has a dedicated and diverse workforce that
vigilantly protects the meat, poultry and egg
products supply.
An inspection force of more than 7,600 deployed
throughout the United States
Inspectors present at various import stations
every day
Inspectors present in 6,400 plants every day
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Farm-to-Table Continuum safeguarding the
nations food supply
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Enhancing Public Health Strategies for the
Future

• Enhanced inspector training
• Food safety technologies new review staff,
  refine guidance
• USDA food safety risk assessment coordination
• Coordination of food safety research agenda
• Best practices for animal production
• Microbiological baseline studies

www.fsis.usda.gov
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The Success of HACCP
The CDC has attributed HACCP implementation as an
important factor in the overall decline in
bacterial food-borne illnesses from 1996 through
2001.
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30
20
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0
-10
-15
-21
Salmonella
-20
-27
E. coli O157H7
-30
Campylobacter
-35
-40
Listeria
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Re-assessment Of Plant HACCP Plans
? FSIS Consumer Safety Officers started
reviewing re-assessments in large and small
plants this winter. ? Re-assessments for very
small plants began April 21, 2003.
We are holding industry, and ourselves,
responsible for successfully operating under the
pathogen reduction/HACCP rule
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Significant Steps Have Been Taken to Improve the
Technical and Scientific Knowledge of Our
Inspectors
Federal, state and local inspectors are equipped
with greater knowledge and understanding of how
to protect the public.
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Recalls
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Outbreak Cycles
Outbreak every 2 4 years
Outbreak every 2 4 years
Outbreak every year
Outbreak every year
Listeria monocytogenes
E. coli O157H7
Outbreak every 2 4 years
Outbreak every year
We must break the cycle!
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USDA-FSIS Food Safety Strategy
Up-to-date Science
Well-trained and dedicated inspectors
Practical Solutions
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Improving Food Safety Step 1
Enhanced Data Integration

• Anticipation and prediction of food safety risks
  through enhanced data integration

• Analysis of FSIS regulatory sampling data as well
  as data to detect trends and identify connections
  between persistence, prevalence and other factors
  such as plant practices and seasonality.

Inspection and Enforcement
Laboratory Data
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Improving Food Safety Step 2
Risk-based Regulatory and Enforcement Activities
Science dictates our food safety programs.
A strong science infrastructure at FSIS allows
for science-based policy making.
We operate under different models and sometimes
are required to change policy as new crises
emerge.
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Improving Food Safety Step 3
Associate Program Outcomes to Public Health
Surveillance Data
Protecting the publics meat, poultry and egg
products is the purpose of the Food Safety and
Inspection Service.
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Improving Food Safety Step 4
Improving Food Safety Beyond our Borders
USDA Animal and Plant Health Service

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We all play a part in ensuring the food on
American tables is safe.