At the end of his reflection on FDA’s 2021 accomplishments in the food realm, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas stated that he believes collaboration will enable industry to “bend the curve of foodborne illnesses in this decade”. It would be a significant milestone, and in his latest FDA Voices blog, Yiannas reviewed a host of FDA achievements that bring his statement much closer to a reality:
- Move to change agricultural water requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule
- Issuance of FSMA final lab accreditation rule
- Release of Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan in an effort to expedite investigations
- Report on agency investigation into the Fall 2020 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak involving leafy greens
- Traceability challenge launched in an effort to provide scalable and cost-effective technologies for food operations, regardless of size. Twelve winners were selected
- Coordinated effort with state partners via a domestic mutual alliance agreement with California, Florida, Utah and to reduce human foodborne illness outbreaks
- Three-day summit held to discuss the safety of foods ordered online and directly delivered to customers
- Establishing a “Closer to Zero” action plan to reduce the presence of dangerous, toxic metals in common foods consumed by babies and young children
FDA Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock gives of full report on the agency’s work in the “FDA 2021 Year in Review: Working For You”.
Compare this year’s review with that of 2020, where Yiannas reflected on the agency’s Food Program achievements during the first year of the pandemic and the 10-year anniversary of FSMA.
