The Food and Drug Administration has announced new programs to help identify the source of foodbourne illnesses in processed foods and raw fruits and vegetables, according to news sources.
The two programs will implement more thorough records kept by the food distribution and production companies.
The FDA hopes to simplify the process that occurs after a consumer gets sick from a food product. The hope is that records will show where products as well as all the product ingredients originated. The new process will also track every place they went through as they were distributed.
Currently, the process of tracking a where a contaminated product originated can take weeks, which is a lot of time for more illness to spread.
“We can prevent illnesses and reduce the economic impact to the food industry if we can more quickly determine what foods may be causing an outbreak and what foods can be eliminated from consideration,” the FDA’s deputy commissioner said.
The projects come as a requirement under the newly passed Food Safety and Modernization Act. This act also requires the FDA to come up with special tracking methods for high-risk products.
The program is currently still in its pilot phase, and will be tested on a products that are yet to be named. The Institute of Food Technologists, who will oversee the pilot, will test the traceback methods on these products.
As a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles, I’m glad to hear the FDA is improving standards in order to protect consumers. Foodborne illnesses can often be life-threatening, especially to small children, the elderly, and pregnant women. Please visit this blog often to keep informed about new dangers to your health. The product liability lawyers at our office sincerely hope that these new programs will reduce the spread of foodborne illness.