Food Safety Flashcards
Define food defense
Preventing intentional adulteration
vs food safety, which is preventing unintentional adulteration
Who might be looking to commit agroterrorism?
- Anyone with an axe to grind
- Disgruntled employees
- Lone wold
- Domestic Terrorist Organizations (i.e. ALF)
- Foreign Terrorist Organizations
- DTOs and FTOS: sleeper and active cells, emulators, sympathizers, cyber-recruitment
What constitues agroterrorism?
- Direct attacks on livestock –> inflict direct ecnomic harm/oss or adulterate food supply
- Direct attacks on animal feed ingredients or water supply
- Direct attacks on the food/water supply (domestic and imported)
- Cyber attacks to adulterate food supply
- Cyber attacks on import inspection programs (ACE- CBP, PREDICT - FDA, PHIS - USDA)
- Cyber attacks to imply disease or food supply adulteration –> damage consumer confidence, export embargoes
Describe how someone can achieve biological pre-harvest adulteration.
- Agent –> animal –> other animals = decreased productivity or loss of consumer confidence, loss due to death, and loss due to eradication effortf
- Agent –> animal –> other animals –> human food supply –> human illness
- Agent –> irrigation water –> plants –> human food supply –> human illness
Describe how someone can achieve chemical pre-harvest adulteration.
- Agent (i.e. pesticide) –> animal feed –> animals –> decreased productivity, loss due to death, and loss due to product contamination
- Agent (i.e. dioxin) –> animal feed –> animals –> human food supply –> human illness
Describe how someone can achieve post-harvest adulteration.
- Agent –> batch mixing vessel –> processed product –> human food supply –> human illness
- Agent –> human food supply –> human illness
Agroterrorism all begins with….
Data mining = using the internet
What are the 7 attributes of the CARVER + Shock Food/Ag Vunerability Assessment tool?
- C-riticality = measure of public health and economic impacts of an attack
- A-ccessability = ability to physically access and egress from target
- R-ecuperability = ability of system to recover from an attack
- V-unerability = ease of accomplishing an attack
- E-ffect = amount of direct loss from an attack as measures by loss in production
- R-ecognizability = ease of identifying the target
- Shock = combined health, economic, and psychological impacts of an attack
List the 5 steps in a CARVER + Shock assessment.
- Establish assessment parameters (context/scenario) - who, why, what, how?
- Assemble a team of experts to conduct the assessment (example) - operational/farm manager, industrial engineer, vet, coop extension/food safety specialist, law enforcement, financial officer, etc.
- Develop process flow charts - parent prcoess, sub processes, what comes in? what goes out?
- Score and rank (1-10)
- Develop mitigation strategies - Food Defense Mitigation Strategies Database on FDA website
How do food allergies play into food safety?
- 6% of adults and 8% of children have food allergies
- Most common foods: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.
- USDA FSIS requires an ingredient list with common names. For example it will cay “Contains : (any major allergens)……..”
How does antibiotic resistance play into food safety?
- Antibiotic resistence is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today.
- Animals get antibiotics and develop resistant bacteria in their systems
- Drug-resistant bacteria can remain on meat and spread to humans if the meat is not handled or cooked properly
- Fertilizer or water containing animals feces and drug-resistant bacteria is used on food crops and then those can remain on crops and be eaten by humans
Describe the causes of antibiotic resistance as it relates to humans and animals.
- Overprescribing antibiotics (human doctors, SA practitioners)
- Patients not taking antibiotics as prescribed (human patients, small animal owners)
- Uneccessary antibiotics used in agriculture (food animal practitioners)
- Poor infection control in hospitals and clinics (human hospitals, vet clinics)
- Poor hygeine and sanitation practices (humans)
- Lack of rapid laboratory tests (both)
How can we stop antibiotic resistance?
- Improve labs
- Collect and share data - NARMS
- Use antibiotics wisely - judicious use in foood animals, VFDs
- Take measures to prevent infections - beef quality assurance (BQ), farmers assuring responsible management (FARM), pork quality assurance plus (PQA plus)
Describe NARMS and its usefulness when it comes to antibiotic resistance and food safety.
- National antimicrobial monitoring system for enteric bacteria
- Collaboration among local public health departments, CDC, FDA, and USDA
- Tracks changes in antimicrobial susceptibility of certain enteric bacteria
- CDC human populations, FDA retail meats, USDA animal populations (HACCP)
What are the 5 VFD key facts?
- Definition - written statement provided by a veterinarian that authorizes the client to use a VFD drug or combination of VFD drug in or on animal feed to treat animals in accordance with approved use
- Feed mills have responsibility to notify FDA with intent to distribute VFD, fill VFD orders, and retian VFD orders for two years
- FDA guidance #209 - removed medically important antibiotics for growth properiton to VFD status which requires veterinary oversight
- FDS guidance #213 - Set 3-year road map to move medically important antibiotics from OTC to VFD status
- Updated requirments - electronic signature from veterinarian, estimated # of animals that will be treated and the duration of use
True or false: 80% of antibiotics used in the US are used in food animals.
False. Pound for pound, humans and their pets you 10x the amount of antibiotics than what is used in food animal production.
True or false: Food animal antibiotic use is the leading contributor to antimicrobial resistnace.
False. According to the CDC, most human antibiotic resistant infections are acquired in hospitals and residental health care facilities.
What are the GMO crops in the US (11)?
- Potato
- Papaya
- Summer squash
- Pink pinapple
- Apple
- Soybean
- Cotton
- Alfalfa
- Canola
- Corn
- Sugar beet
What are the 3 kinds of food hazards?
- Biological (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.)
- Chemical (mycotoxins, pesticides, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, etc.)
- Physical (sharp hazards, choking hazards, filth (dirt, insect parts), animal food (size/hardness)
Intoxication vs Infection
Intoxication - toxins produced by bacteria, chemical contamination, or environmental toxins (i.e. mercury, fertilizer). QUICKER
Infection - bacteria, parasites, viruses. SLOWER, person to person
What prodcuts does the FDA regulate (9)?
80% of the US food supply
1. Packaged foods that are <3% raw red meat and/or <2% cooked poultry
1. Dairy
1. Seafood except catfish
1. Processed produce (canned, freezer bags)
1. Shell egss of domestic chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea; processing plants
1. Wild game (turkeys, ducks, geese, bison, deer, elk, moose)
1. Bottled water
1. Infant formula
1. Supplements and food additives
What are the two primary agencies involved in food safety?
FDA and USDA
What food safety programs are utilized under the FDA?
- Pure Food and Drug Act 1906 - gave power to inspect food and drugs for adulteration or midbranding; replaced with below now
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938
Describe the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmentic Acts 1938.
- Food Quality Protection Act - mandates health-based standard for pesticides in foods
- Food Safety Moderinization Act - new regulatory power about how foods are grown, harvested, and processed due to high number of foodborne illnesses from 2000-2010
What is the purpose of the Food Safety Modernization Act?
- Mandates preventative controls for food facilities (HARPAC)
- Mandates produce safety standards (production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables)
- Regulates radiological hazards along with chemical safety
- Regulates the prevention of intentional adulteration of food (Food defense)
What are the missions of the FDA in terms of food safety?
- Ensures nations food supply is safe, sanitary, and wholesome
- Honest labeling
- Inspection of regulated products and manufacturers
- Conduction of sample analysis of regulated products
- Review of imported products
- Outbreak investigation, recalls, safety alerts on website
What is the role of the Center of Veterinary Medicine? What organization is it under?
- FDA
- Regulation of animal drugs - classificaiton of prescription vs OTC, VFDs, extralabel use
- Animal food and feeds - AAFCO, horse and livestock feed
- Recalls
- Investigaiton of foodborne illness outbreaks
What foods does the USDA regulate?
- Meat - beef, pork, lamb, AMS offers grading
- Processed meat >3% (hot dogs, salami, etc.)
- Poultry - chicken, turkey, duck, goose
- Farmed catfish
- Real egg products (if egg is cracked)
- Raw fruits and vegetables
- Organic
Describe the programs/organizations used by the USDA to maintain food safety?
- Federal Meat Inspection Act 1906 - illegal to adulterate or misbrand meant and meat products being sold as food and ensures that meat/products are slaughtered and processed under regulated sanitary conditions (includes imports)
- Poultry Products Inspection ACT - requires FSIS to inspect all domesticated birds when slaughtered and processed into products for human food (imports too)
- Egg Products Inspection Act
- Silurfiformes spp. Fish including Catfish - mandatory inspection program for fish and products from these fish
Who certifies breeding stock and hatcheries of poultry?
S. enteritidis
APHIS national poultry improvement plan - USDA
Who is responsible for the surveillance program to ensure proper disposition of restricted shell eggs?
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) - USDA
Who is responsible for inspecting egg breaking plants, liquid, frozen, or dried egg products, wahsing/sanitizing for eggs before breaking, and continous inspection while egg breaking?
FSIS - USDA
Who is responsible for the prevention of S. enteritidis in shell eggs during production, transportaiton, and storage?
Egg safety rule - FDA
HHS/PHS/FDA responsibilities for milk
Pasteurized milk oridnace - tech assitance, training, research, standards development, certificaiton activities.
USDA/Ag marketing service responsibilities for milk
US grade standards (voluntary)