Shellfish and Death???--PART II

The FDA implemented Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems in 1997 as a major safety measure to prevent shellfish contamination. The provisions of the HACCP required processors of raw shellfish to identify safety hazards and establish controls to prevent or reduce contamination. The FDA does not recognize Vibrio vulnificus as a hazard under the HACCP systems because (1) the hazard occurs naturally in oysters, (2) the general population is not susceptible to Vibrio vulnificus induced illness, and (3) the amount of the bacteria required to cause illness in susceptible individuals is unknown. Thus, the bacteria is distinguished from other hazards associated with shellfish consumption.

The FDA has responded that while it has devoted essentially the same number of staff to annual evaluations in each state that produces shellfish, regardless of the amount that state produces, it has not moved to risk-based assessments its shellfish safety programs. In part, the current approach, the FDA reports, is in place in part because shellfish producing states wanted uniform oversight. The agency admits that it could collect better data, but it believes that it is impossible to directly assess the effectiveness of shellfish safety efforts currently because of problems in accurately measuring shellfish-related pathogens and illness. The agency maintains that it does not know what data and collection methods would be most effective.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic