US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced in a press statement several new initiatives to ensure the safety and quality of food purchased by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) for the National School Lunch Program and other food and nutrition assistance schemes.
“Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our nation’s school children,” said Secretary Vilsack. “We must do everything we can to ensure that our kids are being served safe, high quality foods at school. This announcement demonstrates our commitment to constantly improving the safety and quality of foods purchased by USDA.”
The initiatives are a combined effort of five USDA agencies – the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
ARS and FSIS will provide technical assistance to AMS for School Lunch and other Federal nutrition assistance programmes.
AMS will increase information sharing with other agencies in order to better monitor vendor performance and identify potential food safety issues in the process. Information on in-plant enforcement actions, positive pathogen test results, contract suspensions, recall notifications, and more will be better shared between USDA agencies.
FNS will review and evaluate methods currently being used by state agencies to communicate with schools and school districts regarding product recalls. FNS will develop performance criteria for states that allows them to provide rapid communication to schools and school districts. FNS will provide financial assistance to states to allow them to upgrade the speed and accuracy of their food safety messages.
FNS will also establish a Center of Excellence devoted to research on school food safety issues in FNS child nutrition programmes. Research is needed in areas such as produce safety, proper cooling practices, evaluation of in-school food safety programmes, and the containment of norovirus, which is the leading cause of foodborne illness in schools.
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