Food Scares Prompt Standards Review

February 22, 2009: 04:23 PM EST

Recent food safety scares, including the potential for bioterrorism, are prompting international food producers to tighten controls over manufacturing amid ongoing debate over the need for stronger food safety enforcement. A recent outbreak of salmonella in the US, related to contaminated peanuts produced by the Peanut Corporation of America, killed at least eight people and resulted in the recall of thousands of products. In the wake of this and other scares many major companies are reconsidering their policies on contract manufacturing, even though owning their own processing plans is in itself no guarantee of safety. The US Congress is considering creating a new Food Safety Administration along the lines of the European Food Safety Authority, which was set up in 2002 amid similar public concerns. Currently food safety policing in the US is split between the FDA and the USDA. There are no global standards, but some companies, Nestle among them, are adopting ISO standards.

Jenny Wiggins and Jonathan Birchall, "Scares Prompt Tighter Controls on Food", The Financial Times, February 22, 2009, © The Financial Times Limited

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