A NEW APPROACH TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH1

1970 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 242-245
Author(s):  
Charles C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Private Industry ◽  
Cooperative Approach

Recently, the Public Health Service (PHS) milk, food service, shellfish, and interstate carrier sanitation programs were transferred to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service. To administer these programs, a Division of Sanitation Control has been created within FDA's Bureau of Compliance. The Division consists of three branches: the Milk and Food Service Sanitation Branch, the Interstate Travel Sanitation Branch, and the Shellfish Sanitation Branch. Field operations will be under the administrative control of the Associate Food and Drug Directors in the ten regional offices of the Department. Scientific activities associated with the programs will continue primarily at the laboratories in Cincinnati, which are now a part of the FDA Bureau of Science. The transfer of these voluntary, cooperative programs does not imply any change in their direction or philosophy. The programs have been shifted to the FDA so that our total. effort in food protection can be more closely coordinated and can have the benefit of the strongest possible scientific base. The FDA will work with State agencies and private industry to continue and strengthen the voluntary, cooperative approach which has characterized the PHS programs in the past. Maintaining the purity and safety of the nation's food supply encompasses problems that grow more complex with every innovation in food technology and with the changing life-style that marks contemporary life. New ways of preparing, packaging, and distributing food introduce new problems, while some of the old familiar hazards of foodborne diseases are intensified or complicated. The Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service was established to provide a single agency that can take into account the relationship of all environmental problems, coordinate activities, and provide leadership to the nation's effort to maintain environmental quality and protect the consumer. It includes, in addition to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Air Pollution Control Administration, and the Environmental Control Administration.

scholarly journals Restaurant Food Cooling Practices†

2012 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2172-2178 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA GREEN BROWN ◽  
DANNY RIPLEY ◽  
HENRY BLADE ◽  
DAVE REIMANN ◽  
KAREN EVERSTINE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Air Space ◽  
Food Workers ◽  
Cooling Methods

Improper food cooling practices are a significant cause of foodborne illness, yet little is known about restaurant food cooling practices. This study was conducted to examine food cooling practices in restaurants. Specifically, the study assesses the frequency with which restaurants meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations aimed at reducing pathogen proliferation during food cooling. Members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Environmental Health Specialists Network collected data on food cooling practices in 420 restaurants. The data collected indicate that many restaurants are not meeting FDA recommendations concerning cooling. Although most restaurant kitchen managers report that they have formal cooling processes (86%) and provide training to food workers on proper cooling (91%), many managers said that they do not have tested and verified cooling processes (39%), do not monitor time or temperature during cooling processes (41%), or do not calibrate thermometers used for monitoring temperatures (15%). Indeed, 86% of managers reported cooling processes that did not incorporate all FDA-recommended components. Additionally, restaurants do not always follow recommendations concerning specific cooling methods, such as refrigerating cooling food at shallow depths, ventilating cooling food, providing open-air space around the tops and sides of cooling food containers, and refraining from stacking cooling food containers on top of each other. Data from this study could be used by food safety programs and the restaurant industry to target training and intervention efforts concerning cooling practices. These efforts should focus on the most frequent poor cooling practices, as identified by this study.

Improving and Developing Analytical Methods ... A Continuing Challenge

1988 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Walter Holak
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Analytical Methods ◽  
Methyl Mercury ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
International Meeting ◽  
Service Award ◽  
The U.S

Abstract In recognition of his skill at conceiving rugged, elegant analytical methods that have helped further the consumer protection mission of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the 1987 AOAC Harvey W. Wiley Award was presented to Walter Holak at the 101st AOAC Annual International Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco, CA, Sept. 14, 1987. Holak began working for FDA on Dec. 10, 1962, the same year he became a member of AOAC. In the ensuing 25 years, he has developed many methods, perhaps the most significant being those to measure methyl mercury and iodine and that to determine "free" and "total" sulfites in foods. FDA recognized his achievements with a Commendable Service Award in 1979, and in the same year AOAC gave him the double honor of naming him Associate Referee of the Year and electing him a Fellow.

scholarly journals Influence of Four Retail Food Service Cooling Methods on the Behavior of Clostridium perfringens ATCC 10388 in Turkey Roasts following Heating to an Internal Temperature of 74°C

2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. OLDS ◽  
A. F. MENDONCA ◽  
J. SNEED ◽  
B. BISHA
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Anaerobic Incubation ◽  
Internal Temperature ◽  
Cooling Methods ◽  
Retail Food

The influence of four food service cooling methods (CM) on growth of Clostridium perfringens ATCC 10388 in cooked turkey roasts was evaluated. Raw whole turkey roasts were inoculated with C. perfringens spores (∼4.23 log CFU per roast), vacuum packaged, and heated to an internal temperature of 74°C. The cooked roasts were cooled as follows: whole roast cut into four quarters and held at 4°C (CM1); whole roast held in a blast chiller (CM2); whole roast loosely wrapped and held at 4°C (CM3); and whole roasts (three per bag) held at 4°C (CM4). The roasts were analyzed for C. perfringens using Shahidi-Ferguson perfringens agar and anaerobic incubation (37°C, 24 h). None of the cooling methods met the amended 2001 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code guidelines for safe cooling of potentially hazardous foods. Times taken for roasts to cool from 57 to 21°C using CM1, CM2, CM3, and CM4 were 2.27, 3.11, 6.22, and 8.71 h, respectively. Times taken for roasts (21°C) to reach 5°C ranged from 6.33 (CM1) to 19.45 h (CM4). Based on initial numbers of C. perfringens, no growth occurred in roasts cooled by CM1 or CM2, whereas numbers increased by 1.5 and 4.0 log in whole roasts cooled via CM3 and CM4, respectively. These findings indicate that certain food service cooling methods for whole cooked turkey roasts may result in proliferation of C. perfringens and increase the risk of foodborne illness by this pathogen.

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 736-737
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Public Health Service ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Local State ◽  
Commercial Products ◽  
The Public ◽  
Serious Injuries

Recent serious injuries to children and adults have been caused by unsuspected defects in commercial products. The Food and Drug Administration and the Public Health Service are therefore urging physicians to report promptly unusual occurrences of disease or injuries to the local, state or other officials listed below. None of the products involved was suspected of causing harm until a considerable number of persons had become ill. The frequency and seriousness of the occurrences has become a matter of concern to those in the Public Health Service and the Food and Drug Administration who have responsibility for protecting the public from injurious substances in foods and drugs, and for the control of diseases arising from ingestion of harmful foods, drugs, and other environmental hazards.

Analysis of U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Allergen Recalls after Implementation of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (11) ◽  
pp. 1933-1938 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN M. GENDEL ◽  
JIANMEI ZHU
Keyword(s):  
Drug Administration ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Food Allergen ◽  
Food And Drug Administration ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Consumer Protection Act ◽  
Major Food ◽  
Undeclared Major ◽  
Allergen Labeling

To avoid potentially life-threatening reactions, food allergic consumers rely on information on food labels to help them avoid exposure to a food or ingredient that could trigger a reaction. To help consumers in the United States obtain the information that they need, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 defined a major food allergen as being one of eight foods or food groups and any ingredient that contains protein from one of these foods or food groups. A food that contains an undeclared major food allergen is misbranded under the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is subject to recall. Food allergen labeling problems are the most common cause of recalls for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–regulated food products. To help understand why food allergen recalls continue to occur at a high rate, information on each food allergen recall that occurred in fiscal years 2007 through 2012 was obtained from the FDA recall database. This information was analyzed to identify the food, allergen, root cause, and mode of discovery for each food allergen recall. Bakery products were the most frequently recalled food type, and milk was the most frequently undeclared major food allergen. Use of the wrong package or label was the most frequent problem leading to food allergen recalls. These data are the first reported that indicate the importance of label and package controls as public health measures.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document