Dive Brief:
- President Obama's 2017 fiscal year budget, released Tuesday, matched the growing attention to food safety in the U.S. across multiple departments.
- Key figures for the Department of Health and Human Services are $1.6 billion for FDA and CDC activities for a food safety system founded on integration and prevention; $1.5 billion for FSMA implementation; and $52 million for the CDC.
- The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) under the USDA receives $8.5 million per the new budget, aimed at limiting foodborne illness, including a whole genome sequencing effort.
Dive Insight:
The food safety prominence in the budget is indicative of overall industry trends, and also mirrors efforts by the government to prevent food safety problems rather than take a reactionary approach.
The FDA and CDC's $1.6 billion allocation is up $212 million from the 2016 budget.
But the food safety plans aren't enough, according to NASDA's chief executive.
"The $25.3 million increase for FDA's food safety activities included in the President's FY17 budget request moves in the right direction, but falls far short of the next investment needed in our new preventive approach to food safety for public health," Barbara Glenn told Food Safety News.
The food industry won't be pleased with the taxes and fees the administration lays out. Joseph Clayton, The American Frozen Food Institute's interim president, told Food Safety News how important it is for FDA's food safety moves to have appropriate funding without cost upticks for food manufacturers and consumers.
What's particularly notable in the outlined food safety spending is the FSIS efforts into technology, specifically with the idea to handle outbreaks quickly and accurately. The USDA said this budget includes the new poultry inspection system implementation.
Outside the government, other efforts to improve food safety include Mars and IBM Research's work in tracking the "microbiome" of food. Food testing startup Invisible Sentinel's Veriflow, a technology that swiftly tests for E. coli, salmonella, and listeria at a relatively lower price, according to the company.