FDA Commissioner Outlines Agency Priorities During Food Summit in D.C.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg offered her views on how the agency will move forward on food safety and labeling issues during a “Food Summit” sponsored by The Atlantic magazine at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2010. Hamburg stated that she plans to focus on two critical aspects of food policy: safety and how to make it easier for consumers to make more nutritious choices and reduce the risk of disease.
She pointed to three converging factors that affect food safety. First, she stated that both consumers and the industry support reform measures and want a system focused on prevention, where everyone in the supply chain is held accountable and imports are required to meet U.S. standards. Second, she noted that current U.S. food safety legislation (H.R. 2749—passed by the House in July 2009 and expected to be taken up by the Senate this spring) would mandate a shift from reaction to prevention and would give FDA important tools, such as mandatory recall authority, as well as new powers to regulate food imports. Third, she referenced the White House’s actions to make food safety a priority, e.g., through establishment of the Food Safety Working Group.
Hamburg’s food safety action plan includes a prevention-oriented system; a farm-to-table approach that addresses the areas of highest risk and vulnerability, government partnerships with other federal, state and local agencies; collaboration with trading partners to harmonize food safety standards and help to strengthen regulatory schemes in developing countries exporting to the United States; and a strengthened and unified FDA food safety system.
Regarding nutrition, Hamburg took note of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative and said that part of this effort must empower consumers to choose more healthy foods. She also discussed updating the food labeling system and noted that the emergence of certain claims on food labels may not always accurately reflect the properties of the food. Hamburg referred to the recently released report indicating that consumers are paying attention to the information on food labels. She also indicated that improving the accuracy of food labels must be a priority and mentioned FDA’s issuance of the warning letters reported elsewhere in this Update.
As for food labeling, Hamburg discussed modifying the Nutrition Facts Panel, particularly by making the calorie declarations more prominent and updating serving sizes. She also mentioned front-of-pack labels and actions the agency is taking to devise a forthcoming proposed rule and guidance useful to all stakeholders. Finally, Hamburg indicated that she is monitoring current legislation that would require national restaurant chains to provide nutrition labeling and efforts to reduce sodium consumption such as the recent initiative in New York City.
Sarah Sunday, a D.C.-based member of Shook’s Agribusiness & Food Safety Practice, prepared this summary and attended the summit, which featured panel discussions about “Feeding the World,” “The Next Era of Food Safety” and “The Way We Eat.”
