The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will soon begin sharing new levels of food
safety data specific to slaughter and processing facilities in the United
States, on Data.gov.
It means the public can learn whether a packing plant has,
for example, had issues with E. coli 0157:H7 food-poisoning bacteria.
The agency has detailed its framework for releasing this
data in its Establishment-Specific
Data Release Plan, which the agency anticipates will allow consumers
to make more informed choices, motivate individual establishments to improve
performance, and lead to industry-wide improvements in food safety by providing
better insights into strengths and weaknesses of different practices.
“FSIS’ food safety inspectors collect vast amounts of data
at food producing facilities every day, which we analyze on an ongoing basis to
detect emerging public health risks and create better policies to prevent
foodborne illness,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al
Almanza.
“Consumers want more information about the foods they are
purchasing, and sharing these details can give them better insight into food
production and inspection, and help them make informed purchasing decisions.”
FSIS employs roughly 7,500 food safety inspectors who work
in more than 6,000 meat, poultry and processed egg facilities across the
country and more than 120 ports of entry every day.
Over the past seven years, the agency has taken an
increasingly data-driven approach to identifying and preventing food safety
concerns, and the data these men and women collect in regulated facilities
every day have made it possible for FSIS to implement significant food safety
changes since 2009.
Between 2009 and 2015, this work led to a 12 percent decline
in foodborne illness associated with FSIS-regulated products, the government
says.
The new datasets will begin to publish on Data.gov
on a quarterly basis starting 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Initially, FSIS will share information on the processes used
at each facility, giving more detail than is currently listed in the searchable
establishment directory, as well as a code for each facility that will make it
easier to sort and combine future datasets by facility.
Additionally, FSIS will release results for Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) and Salmonella in
ready-to-eat (RTE) products and processed egg products.
On a quarterly basis, FSIS will then begin to share other
datasets, including results for Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli
(STEC) and Salmonella in
raw, non-intact beef products; results for Salmonella and Campylobacter in
young chickens and young turkeys, comminuted poultry, and chicken parts;
routine chemical residue testing data in meat and poultry products; and
advanced meat recovery testing data.
There is no word from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency,
nor from the federal health department, about whether it is prepared to share
the same type and degree of information.
My guess is they won't because it might show up their own inspection service as unwilling to shut down a profit-spinning corporation.
