WASHINGTON— Speaking before the House Agriculture Committee April 2, Supervalu, Inc. Vice President for Food Safety John Hanlin called for USDA's risk-based surveillance, inspection and enforcement model for meat and poultry safety to be expanded to the raw food products currently regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reported Meatingplace.
"Specifically we propose taking the successful risk-based USDA surveillance, inspection and enforcement model that has helped reduce the incidence of Salmonella in poultry and has highlighted the challenges associated with reducing E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef and expanding it to other agricultural commodities like spinach and other leafy greens, tomatoes, fresh fruits, peanuts, pistachios, grains and other raw agricultural commodities," he said. "In other words, expand USDA's risk-based inspection system to include commodities that today receive minimal inspection due to budget challenges at FDA."
