Safe Food_ Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism - Marion Nestle [161]
heighten awareness of food security issues on the part of the food industry, across the board, while at the same time not increasing anxiety on the part of consumers. . . . Our current food safety system not only works, but works well. . . . We strongly believe that the best way to improve our nation’s already admirable record on food safety is to continue progress towards a unified science- and risk-based food safety policy, including increased communications and improved coordination, rather than focusing on the creation of a new bureaucracy in the form of a single food agency.62
Instead, the NFPA preferred another strategy. It called on food industry trade groups to help create an Alliance for Food Security, a coalition of 80 food companies, government agencies, and public health groups united in encouraging federal agencies to cooperate and provide information about measures to enhance food safety. The alliance would develop guidance materials to help members “prevent—to the extent we can—threats from occurring to the safety of our nation’s food supply . . . [and provide] a vital comprehensive, and cooperative forum for industry and government at all levels to effectively enhance and augment—where necessary—our food security systems.”62 At least 18 trade associations representing every conceivable facet of food processing and marketing used such arguments and alliances to try to persuade legislators to drop provisions in bioterrorism bills that might give the FDA further authority over domestic and imported foods.63 While the bills were under consideration, both the FDA and USDA issued nonbinding guidelines for importers and domestic food producers, processors, transporters, and retailers. Table 14 summarizes just a few of the FDA’s suggestions. Many of these measures seem more appropriate to penal institutions and are especially disturbing for what they conspicuously fail to mention—Pathogen Reduction: HACCP. Perhaps because following the advice is voluntary, the NFPA praised the FDA guidelines for “not identifying weaknesses in the system that could help terrorists and for giving companies flexibility in adopting security measures.”64
In the early months of 2002, Congress worked on antibioterrorism legislation to increase the FDA’s capacity to inspect imported food and allow the agency to detain suspect foods without a court order, and to require food companies to register and open their records to government inspectors. Industry groups such as the NFPA, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, and the Food Marketing Institute lobbied against these provisions and requested exemptions for their members, arguing that any new legislation would be “a vehicle for a huge expanse in federal power.”65 When the final bill sailed through the House and Senate, industry groups called it “much improved,” no doubt because the bill required the FDA to put the new regulations through a standard rulemaking process and delay their implementation for another 18 months.66
TABLE 14. FDA advice to food importers, producers, processors, transporters, and retailers about how to prevent problems with food security, 2002
Screen employees and check immigration status.
Establish an employee identification system.
Watch for unusual behavior (staying late, arriving early, removing documents, asking inappropriate questions).
Restrict personal items allowed (purses, lunches).
Inspect personal items.
Change locks when employees leave.
Inspect products for authenticity and package integrity.
Ensure that suppliers are known to practice appropriate food security measures.
Inspect incoming vehicles.
Secure and supervise mailrooms.
Restrict