In remarks prepared for May 15th delivery at the Food Safety Summit in Rosemont, IL, Steven Mandernach of the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) said food safety is increasingly becoming a responsibility of the states.
The AFDO Executive called state and local governments “the primary boots on the ground in food safety.” Mandernach spoke at the event’s 13th Town Hall with federal food safety officials from the FDA, the CDC, and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
He began by refreshing attendees on the work accomplished by state food safety programs:
- Grade A milk (farm to table) and shellfish facilities (boat to throat) are entirely inspected by state programs with federal quality assurance oversight and support;
- For produce safety, 93 percent of the on-farm inspections are completed by state programs;
- More than 50 percent of food facility inspections are conducted by state programs under FDA contract, and many state-funded inspections are completed.
- Last, but not least, in retail food programs — restaurants, grocery stores, c-stores, mobile units, and temporary events are all direct inspection work conducted by state and local programs.
Federal and state budgets and the impact on food safety
“As you might recall, last year, we had a spirited discussion on the Biden administration’s proposal to reduce FDA spending on state and local programs by about $34 million or 30 percent. Mandernach said. “Programs were notif...
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