FST Soapbox

The Delicate Dance of Global Food Safety

By Paul Bradley
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April 1, 2024


• Categories: Compliance, Food Manufacturing, FST Soapbox

A universal truth in bustling cities and rural villages alike is that people want to know the food they are eating is safe. Brands tasked with ensuring food safety walk a line between meeting regulatory requirements and balancing resource constraints. It’s a delicate dance in both developing and established economies.

At the federal level, we typically see programs designed to ensure food safety relegated to the back burner.  In the U.S., the FDA’s food program, a linchpin of food safety, has experienced its own challenges according to revelations from Stephen Ostroff. The two-term acting commissioner of the FDA has publicly revealed the internal struggles across various regulatory bodies both within the FDA and the U.S. regulatory system. Across the pond in the UK, efforts to modernize food safety and hygiene inspections have faced their own setbacks, including a lack of inspectors and poor cross-border coordination.

For nations at every stage of development, the road to food safety regulation is long and winding. Charting the way requires innovative solutions and collaborative effort on a global scale.

Challenges in Developing Countries

In developing countries, insufficient regulatory frameworks, a lack of enforcement, and the absence of modern technology and facilities for proper food handling and processing are major hurdles to ensuring broad food safety. We have seen time and again that efforts to improve food handling practices often result in short-lived change and challenges when scaling.

Beyond resource constraints, the prevalence of street vendors and local markets in the “informal sector,” which serve a significant portion of the population, typically lack oversight. A 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine estimated that 2.5 billion people globally rely on street food for at least one meal daily, highlighting the importance of solving food safety concerns in this sector.

Food contamination also poses a serious threat. Microbiological pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and chemical contaminants, can render food and water unsafe. According to a recent UN World Water Development Report, around 2 billion people globally don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water, and approximately 3.6 billion people — 46% of the world’s population — lack adequate sanitation services.

The FDA’s Funding Dilemma

While food safety in the U.S. isn’t as dire as developing countries, we face a different set of concerns. The FDA’s historically underfunded food program has lagged due to staffing shortages, leadership issues and limited resources. A recent 10% increase in funding is a step in the right direction, but critics argue it’s still not enough. Many believe the agency prioritizes drug and medicine oversight and is biased towards appointing leaders with medical backgrounds rather than food industry knowledge.

Beyond the lack of funding and internal infrastructure, there is a broader push to restructure the FDA altogether. The 100+ year old agency created by the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, is beginning to show its age. Today, with limited staff and resources, the FDA struggles to inspect foreign food shipments and physically examines less than 1% of imported products. With consumer palettes increasingly favoring global delicacies, this nominal inspection rate underscores the need for increased funding and a more innovative approach to FDA strategies.

UK’s Tightrope Walk on Food Safety

Similarly, in the UK, where the Food Standards Agency (FSA) governs food safety, budgetary constraints and other industry concerns are causing setbacks as it attempts to modernize inspections. The FSA has expressed concern that local authorities do not have the resources to deliver food controls, with new data revealing that they are a long way off from meeting the required frequencies of interventions at lower-risk establishments. As a result, some outlets in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have not been checked for years. Additionally, UK’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), adds another layer of complexity, with potential disruptions to regulatory frameworks and the need for new trade agreements.

A Cautiously Optimistic Outlook on Global Food Safety

The global food safety landscape is at a crossroads and headed for extinction if changes do not take place within the next decade. Initiatives such as capacity-building programs, training workshops, and public-private partnerships empower individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective food safety practices, while the global exchange of digital food safety data increasingly levels the information playing field for brands and regulatory bodies alike.

Achieving global food safety requires a multi-stakeholder approach that recognizes the unique challenges faced by different nations and leverages the strengths of various stakeholders. By focusing on prevention, capacity building, collaboration, and innovation, we can work towards a future where everyone has access to safe and nutritious food. This journey will require sustained commitment from governments, international organizations, the private sector, and individuals to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for all. For those of us in the business of helping to ensure food safety by creating a more transparent global supply network and making regulatory compliance easier to navigate, we are cautiously optimistic in the future and believe in the industry’s ability to rise above the challenge.