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  1. Regulatory News, Stories, and Features

During the Holidays and Throughout the Year, Food Safety Is Our Focus

MIchael Dutcher

By Michael (Mick) Dutcher, DVM
Deputy Associate Commissioner for Food Products, Office of Inspections and Investigations

Food is a focal point of our seasonal celebrations, giving, and our charity. It’s also at the center of what we do here in the Food Products Inspectorate of FDA’s Office of Inspections and Investigations (OII)—every day of the year.

OII’s roughly 525 human food consumer safety officers and investigators work on the ground, across the country and around the world, to help ensure that the foods you purchase and consume will be safe.  

Our essential mission is clear and overwhelmingly compelling, while entailing much complexity too: That no American ever gets sick because of a food they’ve eaten—whether due to pathogens; industrial chemicals; toxins, like excess lead; or any other harmful contaminant that the FDA forbids or restricts in food products.  

Seasonal Foods Under Scrutiny

Our teams are diligent when it comes to this public health mission, as evidenced most recently by their collaborations with the CDC and other federal, state, and local partners to swiftly respond to foodborne illness outbreaks. You may have read about these events, involving onions, carrots, and other produce, in the news. (You can always find the latest information about outbreaks on FDA’s public health advisories webpage.)

We moved swiftly during these events to conduct traceback work that helped pinpoint sources of contamination. We pushed for recalls that got potentially harmful produce off store shelves and out of retail outlets. While our goal is always a zero incidence of foodborne illness, our investigators and other teams and scientific partners take great pride in helping rein in outbreaks as quickly as possible to prevent further harm.  

An investigator who’s especially dedicated to this work is featured in our latest WeAreOII profile. Investigator Megan Rand recently spent several weeks away from her young family so she could conduct on-site investigations that ultimately brought an end to a troubling E. coli outbreak.  

Along with our federal partners, our food safety efforts also remain laser-focused on the nation’s milk supply, and consumer concerns about the H5N1 avian flu virus—as well as unsafe lead levels in cinnamon and cinnamon applesauce products. We realize that many of these foods are considered staple foods or ingredients appearing on dinner tables this time of year.  

At Farms, Facilities and Many Other Places

Our public health mandate to promote a safe U.S. food supply is vast. You may be surprised to learn that our teams also work to make sure that even the food and drinking water made available to you when you fly, and travel this holiday season, is handled in accordance with federal food safety standards. Investigator Alan Escalona takes this work seriously, as you can read about in this recent OII story.

I can attest that our teams are among the most dedicated public servants out there. Our consumer safety officers and investigators are FDA’s front line for food safety and are committed to ensuring your food is safe.  They embody the regulatory excellence we seek here at OII—highly knowledgeable of all laws, regulations, and science-based guidance that’s in place to protect you. They also embrace the regulatory art of teaching and motivating our partners and the industry we regulate, so that all players in the food safety space are compelled to work even harder at meeting the highest standards possible, on behalf of all Americans.  

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