Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 10/10/11

A food safety summit hosted by the USDA Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C., will focus exclusively on pre-harvest interventions. The agency is hoping to convene everyone from producers and processors to retailers and consumers to develop pre-harvest best practices.

The announcement comes on the heels of the Food Safety Inspection Services’ (FSIS) five-year strategic plan released in September. Under the plan, the agency has promised to develop an annual sampling plan that measures existing and emerging food safety hazards in light of the emerging farm-to-table movement.

But it stops short of intervening on the farms themselves.

“FSIS is not looking to expand our jurisdiction, but under this Strategic Plan, we plan to use scientific data collection methods to develop a more complete understanding of where and how food safety threats enter our food supply system,” Public Affairs Specialist Cathy Cochran told Meatingplace. “Our intent is to protect public health and verify that food is safe along the Farm-to-Table Continuum, but we will do this by working with our scientific, regulatory, and industry partners."

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