Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation : Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 029-108 : Integrating Stakeholder Roles in Food Production, Marketing, and Safety Systems: An Evolving Multi-Jurisdictional Approach
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Date
2011
Authors
Endres, A. Brian
Johnson, Nicholas R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
Evaluating prospects for reform require an understanding of the
current system and its constituents—especially the agencies subject to
change. Accordingly, Part I provides a brief overview of the historical
development of the food safety system in the United States and an
exploration of the split in regulatory authority between the two
primary food safety agencies—the USDA and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). This division of responsibility among
government agencies adds to the difficulty of regulating the diverse
food supply chain—an issue analyzed in Part I in greater detail and
throughout this Article.
Part II explores the first of this Article’s two discussions of recent
examples of food safety failures within this multiagency jurisdictional
environment—fresh-cut leafy greens contamination. In 2006, several
hundred people fell ill after consuming bagged spinach contaminated
with E. coli. In the prior ten years, there were twelve
documented outbreaks of E. coli in leafy greens. But rather than
addressing the structural issues leading to the food safety lapse, the
FDA issued draft guidelines. Meanwhile, the processing industry
organized a voluntary marketing agreement to safeguard against
future outbreaks while retailers incorporated private “super-metrics”
standards into their supply contracts. At the federal level, a group of
large processors proposed the creation of a national marketing
agreement, which would incorporate some disease-prevention
measures. Although the USDA has not finalized the proposed
marketing agreement, some aspects of the Food Safety Modernization
Act may address safety issues in leafy green production and
processing. In 2010, more than 1900 people were struck with Salmonella from
shell eggs, prompting the largest egg recall in history.
Unfortunately, this was not a new food safety issue, but one the
government had grappled with for more than two decades without
success. The lack of progress in addressing the issue stemmed from
the failure of multiple government agencies—the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS), and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in the
USDA, and the FDA in the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)—to coordinate responsibilities to ensure the safety
and quality of eggs and egg products. Accordingly, Part III analyzes
the shell egg regulatory regime in light of the most recent food safety
failure.
This Article concludes with a comparative analysis of the
government and private industry responses to the repeated instances
of food borne illness in fresh-cut greens and shell eggs.
Description
80 pages
Keywords
Food safety, Food security -- United States
Citation
26 J. ENVTL. L. & LITIG. 29 (2011)