ECOP-ESCOP Food Safety Task Force Recommendations:
Priority on Importance and Impact
and Subsequent Action Steps

Presented to ESCOP
August 9, 2000
by Daryl Lund, Chair, Food Safety Task Force

• Priority on Importance and Impact for:
  • Science
    1. With USDA, FDA and stakeholders, address knowledge gaps on food-borne hazards, source of hazards, detection and control measures, and continue HACCP development; and
    2. Emerging agents of food-borne illness: pathogen identification, etiology of the pathogen
  • Risk Analysis and Management
    1. Partner with federal agencies to understand biological, behavioral, and economic assessments of food safety risks;
    2. Seek more funding for risk analysis and management;
    3. Utilize behavioral scientists to further understand barriers to safe food handling by consumers; and
    4. Support establishment of national scientific food safety databases.
  • Education and Communication
    1. With FDA, expand connectivity and access to food safety information from all sources; and
    2. Maintain and support the "train-the-trainer" approach through CES.

• Action Steps
  1. Make permanent a Food Safety Task Force (FSTF)
  2. ESCOP leadership (with selected members of FSTF) and industry representatives review Section 401 and 406 descriptions with USDA/CSREES and FDA.
  3. Develop a white paper (scientific road map) for emerging food-borne illness agents.
  4. ESCOP/ECOP leaders partner with USDA Office of Risk Management.
  5. ESCOP/ECOP/CSREES leaders explore partnering with JIFSAN and National Food Safety Alliance for leadership in food safety.
  6. ECOP engage in discussions with FDA on education and communication.