A real threat:
Terrorists tampering with food
Source of Article: http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/jul/26/a-real-threat-terrorists-tampering-with-food/
The deliberate contamination of the
nation's food supply is a serious threat.
In January 2004 the Bush administration
responded to the threat of contamination of the nation's food supply with a
Homeland Security Presidential Directive, according to an April report from
Trust For America's Health titled "Fixing Food Safety: Protecting
America's Food Supply From Farm-to-Fork."
The directive calls for a coordinated
national approach to countering threats to the food supply. The directive
tasked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with leading national food
defense efforts while working in coordination with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the U.S. Department Health and Human Services and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Despite increased responsibility and
concern, the Food and Drug Administration has not received additional funding
to support food-related anti-terrorism activities, while the USDA has received
an additional $150 million, the TFAH report said.
One tool used by the FDA and the USDA's
Food Safety and Inspection Service is a computer program that assesses the vulnerabilities
within supply systems and infrastructure.
Interested parties work with food safety
officials on a voluntary basis to identify weaknesses in their systems. Once
these vulnerabilities are identified, food growers, producers and manufacturers
can focus resources on protecting the most susceptible points in their system.
Critics contend that there are no means
to ensure that farmers and manufacturers implement such measures to protect the
food supply.
The Public Health Security and
Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 includes a number of
provisions designed to improve the food safety efforts of the FDA in
cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including new authority to
protect the food supply against terrorist acts and other threats.
According to the Customs and Border
Protection Web site, under a special agreement, customs personnel at many ports
of entry around the country have been formally commissioned and trained to
conduct cargo and other examinations.
-- Brian Bethel
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