567
Appendix B: Regulatory
Agencies Monitoring
Microbiological Safety of
Foods in the United States
Food Safety Regulations
Annual sales of food in the United States are more than $400 billion. Before foods reach the consumers, they are processed and handled conservatively by more than 25,000 processors, 35,000
wholesalers, 250,000 retailers, 500,000 eating establishments, and in many millions of homes. If
one adds to them the various types of pathogens that can cause foodborne diseases and their natural presence in food animals and birds, food-producing environments, and among food handlers it
becomes quite apparent that the chances of a foodborne pathogen being present in a food are high.
Yet the numbers of reported foodborne disease outbreaks and the cases per year are relatively low.
A major reason for this could be the stringent food safety laws in the United States. 1,2
Before 1906, there were no food laws in this country, and marketing of unsafe food was
quite common. In 1906, the federal government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the
Meat Inspection Act and gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the power of supervision over the laws. According to these laws, selling of unwholesome and unsafe foods and
meat in interstate commerce was illegal. The Meat Inspection Act also required inspection of
the slaughter and meat-processing facilities. However, as the burden of proof that a substance
had been added to a food at an unsafe level was with the USDA, the laws were not very effective. In 1938, the federal government passed the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD & C) Act and
gave additional power to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer the law. This
law prevents the manufacture and shipment of unsafe and spoiled food and food ingredients
in interstate commerce as well as for export and import. It permits sale of foods that are pure,
wholesome, safe, and produced in a sanitary environment. According to this law, contamination of certain foods with specific pathogens, such as Clostridium botulinum and Salmonella
spp., is considered to be unwholesome, and selling such food is illegal. (At present, several other
potential foodborne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in
ready-to-eat foods, are given the same status.)
Appendix B: Regulatory
Agencies Monitoring
Microbiological Safety of
Foods in the United States
Food Safety Regulations
Annual sales of food in the United States are more than $400 billion. Before foods reach the consumers, they are processed and handled conservatively by more than 25,000 processors, 35,000
wholesalers, 250,000 retailers, 500,000 eating establishments, and in many millions of homes. If
one adds to them the various types of pathogens that can cause foodborne diseases and their natural presence in food animals and birds, food-producing environments, and among food handlers it
becomes quite apparent that the chances of a foodborne pathogen being present in a food are high.
Yet the numbers of reported foodborne disease outbreaks and the cases per year are relatively low.
A major reason for this could be the stringent food safety laws in the United States. 1,2
Before 1906, there were no food laws in this country, and marketing of unsafe food was
quite common. In 1906, the federal government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the
Meat Inspection Act and gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the power of supervision over the laws. According to these laws, selling of unwholesome and unsafe foods and
meat in interstate commerce was illegal. The Meat Inspection Act also required inspection of
the slaughter and meat-processing facilities. However, as the burden of proof that a substance
had been added to a food at an unsafe level was with the USDA, the laws were not very effective. In 1938, the federal government passed the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD & C) Act and
gave additional power to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer the law. This
law prevents the manufacture and shipment of unsafe and spoiled food and food ingredients
in interstate commerce as well as for export and import. It permits sale of foods that are pure,
wholesome, safe, and produced in a sanitary environment. According to this law, contamination of certain foods with specific pathogens, such as Clostridium botulinum and Salmonella
spp., is considered to be unwholesome, and selling such food is illegal. (At present, several other
potential foodborne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in
ready-to-eat foods, are given the same status.)