Professors brief Congressional staffers about food safety before key vote

A commercial cheeseburger contains up to 100 ingredients, so opportunities abound throughout the food chain for mistakes that could lead to foodborne illnesses, Cornell Professor Robert Gravani told Congressional staff members June 15. However, errors could be significantly reduced with improved protocols, he said.

Just days before a U.S. House committee voted to expand the Food and Drug Administration's power to monitor the nation's food supply, Gravani and colleague Kathryn Boor briefed about 45 Congressional staffers on the science of food safety at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

They discussed strategies to protect America's consumers and reduce foodborne illness outbreaks by tracking food products at each stage of production -- from the farm to the dinner table. Food safety has become a growing concern in recent years following outbreaks of salmonella and E. coli linked to tainted peanuts and peanut butter, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes and other items.

The Capitol Hill briefing was the second in a series started by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station to connect faculty experts with policymakers. The first session in March focused on agriculture and climate change.

"Only a tiny fraction of suspected foodborne illnesses are currently traced back to their source," Boor told the staffers, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses, including 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, occur each year in the United States.

While modern scientific methods allow for unprecedented precision in tracking pathogens, the country's ability to pinpoint the contamination source is hampered by the lack of an integrated system for federal agencies and the food industry to coordinate information through compatible electronic databases, Boor said.

Gravani focused on recent outbreaks caused by human error in food production, processing and distribution systems to emphasize how safety can be improved through training, collaboration and information sharing. As director of Cornell's National Good Agricultural Practices Program, Gravani provides growers, packing house operators, government officials and industry trade association personnel with educational information and strategies to protect consumer health and reduce hazards and risks in the production of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Large-scale food production is not inherently more dangerous than in the past, but little is known about the microbial biology of refrigerated foods, Boor said. Mistakes in the system are magnified by the scale of production, she added.

"The rates of change and the emergence of microbial pathogens are increasing and will continue to increase as consumers expect fresh, unprocessed foods throughout the year," Boor said.

Additional briefings are planned for later this year.

Lori Sonken and Marc Messing are government affairs consultants in Ithaca.

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