Skip to content
Health
Link copied to clipboard

Food Safety: An interview with Dara Alpert Lieberman

I interviewed Dara Alpert Lieberman, of Trust for America’s Health about what our nation is doing and should be doing to prevent foodborne illnesses.

Food Safety is vital to our public health. According to a recently released report from the US Department of Agriculture, "Salmonella causes an estimated $3.7 billion each year in medical costs for Americans." And that's just one of many foodborne pathogens.

I interviewed Dara Alpert Lieberman, of Trust for America's Health about what our nation is doing and should be doing to prevent foodborne illnesses.

JG: First off, what do we need to know about foodborne illnesses?

DAL: Nearly all foodborne illnesses could be avoided with a stronger U.S. food safety system. Yet, currently, we are protected by a complex system of federal, state and local agencies and food producers that often are not working in unison.

In December, Trust for America's Health (TFAH), a public health nonprofit, released a report, Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases, which found that states vary widely in their ability to protect Americans from infectious disease threats, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis A and other foodborne illnesses.

To keep all Americans safe from preventable and deadly foodborne illnesses, TFAH recommends fully funding and implementing the bipartisan Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA); improving inspection capacity; moving toward a unified government food safety agency; improving the early detection of foodborne illnesses; and preventing the tainting of food by environmental contaminants, such as arsenic, lead, and sewage.

JG: How critical is food safety? Is it really a public health priority?

DAL: Everyone eats every day. And, when we sit down for a meal, the last thing we expect is for the food we eat to make us sick, but that very thing happens to about 48 million Americans each year, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, as well as billions of dollars in economic and health costs.

And, sadly, foodborne illnesses especially harm the most vulnerable – children, older people, and individuals with underlying health conditions – meaning foodborne illnesses prove devastating to families across the country every day. Quite simply, food safety is one of the more universal public health issues in this country.

JG: How is food safety now organized at the federal level? 

DAL: A better description would be that food safety is disorganized at the federal level. In fact, there are 15 federal agencies with some responsibility for food safety. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that food safety oversight is extremely fragmented, with not enough government-wide oversight or coordination between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other agencies that have food safety responsibilities. Specifically, USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service has responsibility for the safety of meat, poultry and eggs, while FDA is tasked with ensuring the safety of just about everything else, including pet food. Other federal agencies have important roles too, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which investigates foodborne illnesses and outbreaks.

While there was an attempt, with the Food Safety Working Group, to build a government-wide food safety strategy, the working group is no longer meeting and hasn't produced a report since 2011.

JG: Tell me about the Food Safety and Modernization Act.

DAL: The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was the most sweeping reform of federal food safety laws in 70 years.  FSMA's goal is to focus on preventing food contamination, rather than just reacting to outbreaks. For example, food facilities are now required to have a preventive control plan in place to reduce hazards. It also gives FDA better enforcement authorities, like being able to require a company to recall a contaminated product.

JG: What federal efforts are needed to ensure the safety of our food supply?

DAL: First, we need to make sure we're fully funding and implementing FSMA. FDA should ensure the public's health is the top priority as it rolls out the law. Congress has provided some resources to implement FSMA, but the current level of funding is insufficient to ensure FDA can prevent contamination and illnesses. Every state needs additional funds to fully implement and enforce the law.

Second, we need better coordination of food safety across the federal government.  There are still silos within agencies and across the government that prevent crosscutting food safety efforts. We need strong federal leadership – starting with resurrecting the Food Safety Working Group – to ensure true collaboration across government.

JG: What should states and municipalities be doing to ensure food safety?

DAL: We need to continue to invest in a strong public health infrastructure – labs that can quickly test for diseases, epidemiologists who can pinpoint the origin of an outbreak to contain its impact, and inspectors and educators to ensure farmers, food producers, and stores and restaurants are properly handling food before it reaches the table.  The local level, with support from states and the federal government, must be the frontline against any kind of foodborne outbreak.

JG: Where can citizens go for information about foodborne illness outbreaks, food recalls and advice about food storage? 

DAL: Foodsafety.gov is a good one-stop-shop for information about food safety, including recalls and proper food handling, and you can sign up to get automatic alerts about recalls. To keep food safe, everyone should wash their hands and equipment before and after cooking, wash fruits and vegetables – but not meat or poultry – and use a food thermometer. If individuals think they have food poisoning, they should immediately call their doctor (or 911 if it is an emergency) and then be sure to report the problem to their local health department to ensure others don't get sick. That is the only way public health can investigate the source of an outbreak.

Dara Alpert Lieberman is Senior Government Relations Manager at Trust for America's Health. She works with the Director of Government Relations to advance TFAH's agenda with federal, state, and local governments

Read more about The Public's Health.