'Our food system must be updated — one in four people get sick every year due to food-borne illness, and children and the elderly are more at risk,' said Vice President Biden, in a statement on Tuesday.
The working group announced specific steps designed to advance national food safety:
' Health and Human Services and Agriculture departments are targeting salmonella contamination by developing tougher standards to protect the safety of eggs, poultry and turkey.
' To fight the threat of E. coli, USDA is increasing enforcement in beef facilities and the Food and Drug Administration is developing new industry guidance to improve protections for leafy greens, melons and tomatoes.
' The Obama administration is building a new national traceback and response system including clearer industry guidance, a new unified incident command system, and improved use of technology to deliver individual food safety alerts to consumers.
' The administration announced a plan to enhance the organization of federal food safety functions, including the creation of new positions at key food safety agencies and a continuing oversight role for the Food Safety Working Group.
Numerous trade associations provided input to support the working group's activities. 'Today's White House announcement demonstrates how the government and the food industry can work together to make meaningful and practical food safety improvements,' said Tom Stenzel, president and chief executive officer of the United Fresh Produce Association.
'These recommendations set a strong foundation for the food safety legislative work on Capitol Hill,' added Robert Guenther, United Fresh's senior vice president for public policy, referring to the recent House food safety bill and similar legislation underway in the Senate. ' Chris Gillis
