Food safety and sustainability are issues that continue to dominate both domestic and international forums. Last November, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) convened for Food Safety, Sufficiency and Security: Domestic and International Dimensions.

Catherine Woteki, Ph.D., the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Under Secretary for Food Safety, gave the keynote address on food safety regulation and sustainable agriculture. Her remarks focused on steps the USDA had taken, or that are currently underway, to improve the safety of the food supply and the health of the environment.

Highlighted in the speech were the Pathogen Reduction and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems. In 1996, the USDA established these systems as a means of preventing contamination from harmful bacteria in meat processing plants. The USDA set performance standards and established testing to ensure those standards were met. This is a significant step, for it is the first time the agency has set a performance standard for a broad range of raw meat and poultry products. These provisions of the rule were implemented beginning in January 1998 with the largest plants.

Michael Doyle, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement and head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia in Athens, responded to a session on the current state of food safety. "There is too much focus on the single pathogen, E. coli, and although it is important, salmonella and campylobacter also need attention," stressed Dr. Doyle. He noted that the USDA rules concentrate on end product testing, and suggested more priority be placed on prevention of contamination before processing.

Fergus Clydesdale, Ph.D., head of the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts, synthesized a number of solutions offered by conference speakers to improve food safety. He pointed out, "Safe food handling messages should be integrated into current nutrition education vehicles, such as the Food Guide Pyramid and the new dietary guidelines for the year 2000. HACCP and other technologies, including but not limited to irradiation, can be implemented in the current food regulatory structure." Dr. Clydesdale also emphasized that industry, government and academics act together to support the approval of new technologies.

CAST is publishing the conference proceedings so the ideas presented and solutions offered can become guideposts for future food safety action.