Food Safety Regulations and Policy in North America

Abstract

The food safety policy and regulations for North America are characterized by reviewing and understanding the federal food safety agencies, their mandates and the recent food safety legislation adopted in both the US and Canada. Both countries have attempted to reduce foodborne outbreaks by updating current food safety legislation within the last 12 years. During the period from 1999 to 2011, both countries suffered from serious food illness outbreaks. In the US, during this time, salmonella in peanut butter and ground turkey; pathogenic E. coli in lettuce and a fast-food restaurant’s tacos; Listeria monocytes in hot dogs, Turkey meat and cantaloupe; Hepatitis A in a salsa sauce resulted in approximately 2000 illnesses and 60 deaths. Canada had their deadliest foodborne outbreak from meat products in 2008 with at least 20 deaths. The reactive approach to food safety in the US and the fragmented, reactive approach to food safety policy in Canada did not appear to be effectively protecting the consumers. As a result in January 2011 the US adopted the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Canada adopted somewhat similar legislation in November 2012 that consolidated all food safety regulatory responsibility in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Both legislations introduced the concept of prevention and the use of preventive controls to reduce the possibility of foodborne illness outbreaks. This chapter will explore and evaluate the details of this new food safety policy of prevention and how each country implemented and enforced this policy.