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Safe production, distribution, and consumer handling of food require knowledge of foodborne pathogens, chemical toxins, food quality, labeling, and food safety education. Our current system of regulation is often unprepared, understaffed, or untrained for the rapid changes that have occurred in risk assessment, changes in production and distribution methodologies, and new foods and emerging pathogens. Food safety programs are often not integrated among government agencies, hampering communication and cooperation.

Consumers have raised questions about food safety standards and the role government plays in ensuring a safe food supply. The consumer role was evident early in the 20th century, when Upton Sinclair's novel about turn-of-the-century meatpacking industry in Chicago, The Jungle, created a public uproar. Consumer pressure actually started earlier; the Women's Christian Temperance Union began lobbying for pure food, drink, and drug laws in 1879, where it was joined shortly by the General Federation of Women's' Clubs. By recruiting to membership wives of prominent state and federal politicians, the women's organizations were initially successful in securing the passage of state pure food, drink, and drug laws. It was these women, more than any single group in America, who were responsible for the passage in 1906 of both the Pure Food, Drug and Cosmetic, and Meat Inspection Acts.

Why Is Food Safety Important?

Food safety is a worldwide issue affecting hundreds of millions of people who suffer from diseases caused by contaminated food. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls it "one of the most widespread health problems and an important cause of reduced economic productivity".

• Annually, over 3 million children under the age of 5 die of diarrheal diseases among approximately 1,500 million episodes of diarrhea in developing countries. 70% of this incidence is attributable to foodborne illness.
  
  
• 6.5 million to 80 million cases of foodborne illness occur annually in the United States.
  
  
• About 13 millsion children under the age of 5 die each year from infections and malnutrition, most often attributable to contaminated food.
  
  
• Serious and chronic health effects of foodborne illness present an additional burden on the health care system, and affect an estimated 3 of every 1,000 prenatal infants.
  
  
• The estimated annual medical costs/productivity losses due to the 7 major foodborne pathogens range from $6.6 billion to $37.1 billion, according to USDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures.