Trust for America's Health - Another Scathing Critique

Doug Powell and the KSU Food Safety Network provide this link to the Web site Trust for America's Health. Here is what their Web site says about themselves:

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. From anthrax to asthma, from chemical terrorism to cancer, America is facing a crisis of epidemics. As a nation, we are stuck in a “disease du jour” mentality, which means we lose sight of the bigger picture: building a public health defense that is strong enough to cover us from all points of attack – whether the threats are from a bioterrorist or Mother Nature. By focusing on PREVENTION, PROTECTION, and COMMUNITIES, TFAH is leading the fight to make disease prevention a national priority, from Capitol Hill to Main Street. We know what works. Now we need to build the resolve to get it done.


The group (2004 IRS 990 PDF here) released this news release on April 30 about this 25 page pdf research report:

On April 30, 2008, Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released a new report that identifies major gaps in the nation's food safety system, including obsolete laws, misallocation of resources, and inconsistencies among major food safety agencies.
"Our goal should be reducing the number of Americans who get sick from foodborne illness. But we can't adequately protect people from contaminated foods if we continue to use 100 year-old practices," said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "We need to bring food safety into the 21st century. We have the technology. We're way past due for a smart and strategic upgrade."
TFAH calls for a series of actions to help the nation modernize the food safety system by using strategic inspection practices and state-of-the-art surveillance. While many of the recommendations are focused on government actions, the report finds that fixing food safety will require a collaborative effort by food producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers, combined with strong leadership from the federal, state, and local government. Some of the recommendations include:
Repeal outdated end-product and processing plant inspection mandates and shift the emphasis of inspection practices to the prevention of outbreaks and illnesses through the entire food production process and supply chain;
Create mechanisms that allow inspection practices to keep pace with changes in the industry;
Establish uniform performance standards and best practices that are enforceable through actions including detention and recall authority and civil penalty authority;
Require food safety education for commercial food handlers;
Improve monitoring of foreign imports and international practices; and
Strengthen the FDA with increased funding and aligning resources with high risk threats, with the long-term goal of realigning all federal food safety functions.