National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

The Potential Consequences of Public Release of

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Establishment-Specific Data

Committee on a Study of Food Safety and Other Consequences of Publishing
Establishment-Specific Data

Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
                          OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS    500 Fifth Street, N.W.    Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This project was supported by Award AG-3A94-C-08-0018 Task Order 9/AG-3A94-D-10-0255 0255 between the National Academy of Sciences and the US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-22465-9
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-22465-9

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu

Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

COMMITTEE ON A STUDY OF FOOD SAFETY AND OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF PUBLISHING ESTABLISHMENT-SPECIFIC DATA

LEE-ANN JAYKUS, Chair, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina

JULIE A. CASWELL, University of Massachusetts Amherst

JAMES S. DICKSON, Iowa State University, Ames

JOHN R. DUNN, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville

STEPHEN E. FIENBERG, NAS,1 Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

WILLIAM K. HALLMAN, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

GINGER ZHE JIN, University of Maryland, College Park

GALE PRINCE, Sage Food Safety Consultants, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio

DONALD W. SCHAFFNER, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

KATHLEEN SEGERSON, University of Connecticut, Storrs

CHRISTOPHER A. WALDROP, Consumer Federation of America, Washington, DC

DAVID WEIL, Boston University, Massachusetts

Staff

CAMILLA YANDOC ABLES, Study Director

MARIA ORIA, Study Director

KATHLEEN REIMER, Senior Program Assistant

NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Senior Editor

____________________

1 National Academy of Sciences

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

NORMAN R. SCOTT, Chair, NAE,1 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

PEGGY F. BARLETT, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

HAROLD L. BERGMAN, University of Wyoming, Laramie

RICHARD A. DIXON, NAS,2 Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma

DANIEL M. DOOLEY, University of California, Oakland

JOAN H. EISEMANN, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

GARY F. HARTNELL, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri

GENE HUGOSON, Global Initiatives for Food Systems Leadership, St. Paul, Minnesota

MOLLY M. JAHN, University of Wisconsin-Madison

ROBBIN S. JOHNSON, Cargill Foundation, Wayzata, Minnesota

A.G. KAWAMURA, Solutions from the Land, Washington, DC

JULIA L. KORNEGAY, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

KIRK C. KLASING, University of California, Davis

VICTOR L. LECHTENBERG, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

JUNE BOWMAN NASRALLAH, NAS,2 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

PHILIP E. NELSON, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

KEITH PITTS, Marrone Bio Innovations, Davis, California

CHARLES W. RICE, Kansas State University, Manhattan

HAL SALWASSER, Oregon State University, Corvallis

ROGER A. SEDJO, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

KATHLEEN SEGERSON, University of Connecticut, Storrs

MERCEDES VAZQUEZ-AÑON, Novus International, Inc., St. Charles, Missouri

Staff

ROBIN A. SCHOEN, Director

CAMILLA YANDOC ABLES, Program Officer

RUTH S. ARIETI, Research Associate

KAREN L. IMHOF, Administrative Coordinator

KARA N. LANEY, Program Officer

AUSTIN J. LEWIS, Senior Program Officer

JANET M. MULLIGAN, Senior Program Associate for Research

KATHLEEN REIMER, Senior Program Assistant

EVONNE P.Y. TANG, Senior Program Officer

PEGGY TSAI, Program Officer

___________________

1National Academy of Engineering

2National Academy of Sciences

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

Preface

Public release of establishment-specific data is not a new concept for some federal and state regulatory agencies, but it is new to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Hence, FSIS will need to consider many issues, and it is our hope that this report will be of value as the agency pursues public data release in a manner that promotes transparency and ultimately results in improvements in public health. We suspect that our conclusions will also be relevant to other food-safety agencies as they move down the path of increasing stakeholder engagement through formal data-release programs.

I would like to thank the committee members, whose diverse expertise made for thought-provoking discussion. Their commitment to listening to the views of others and drafting a document that was both comprehensive and universally accepted is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank FSIS personnel, who kept in contact with the committee over the course of deliberations, providing both formal and informal input regarding the structure of their current data systems and their vision for the future, which includes release of establishment-specific data. Likewise, representatives of the meat and poultry industry provided honest discussion with respect to their concerns and suggestions for future public data release.

Thanks also to the staff of the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies, especially to study directors Camilla Ables and Maria Oria, for keeping the committee on task and coordinating deliberations and document review. Special thanks to Kati Reimer, who planned the meetings and facilitated communications, always with enthusiasm and a smile. Finally, I thank Robin Schoen, whose insights on study protocol helped us to produce a relevant consensus document. In short, whereas the committee provided the brain power, the staff was able to make that into something of value to the scientific and regulatory food-safety community at large. For that, I am deeply grateful.

Lee-Ann Jaykus, PhD, Chair
Committee on a Study of Food Safety and Other
Consequences of Publishing Establishment-Specific
Data

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

Acknowledgments

This report has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council Report Review Committee. The purpose of the independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following for their review of the report:

Gina R. Bellinger, Food Safety Net Services

Dane Bernard, Keystone Foods, LLC

Jerry Bowman, Institute of Food Technologists

Christine Bruhn, University of California, Davis

James Hamilton, Duke University

Neal H. Hooker, St. Joseph’s University

Ian Jenson, Meat & Livestock Australia

William Keene, Oregon Public Health Division

Barbara Masters, OFW Law

Greg Paoli, Risk Sciences International

John R. Ruby, JBS USA, LLC

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of the report was overseen by Robert Gravani, Cornell University, and Elaine Larson, Columbia University. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of the report rests with the author committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

Abbreviations and Acronyms

AERS Adverse Event Reporting System
AMS Agricultural Marketing Service
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CSPI Center for Science in the Public Interest
CSV comma-separated values
ECHO Enforcement and Compliance History Online
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
FDA Food and Drug Administration
FOIA Freedom of Information Act
FOOD Foodborne Outbreak Online Database
FoodNet Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network
FSA Food Safety Assessment
FSIS Food Safety and Inspection Service
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
HTML hyper text markup language
IDEA Integrated Data for Enforcement Analysis
IICs inspectors-in-charge
IOM Institute of Medicine
LADPH Los Angeles Department of Public Health
MSHA Mine Safety and Health Administration
NACMPI National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection
NIH National Institutes of Health
NR noncompliance record
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OPEER Office of Program Evaluation, Enforcement and Review
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PDF portable document format
PDP Pesticide Data Program
PHIS Public Health Information System
PR Pathogen Reduction
RFR Reportable Food Registry
RTE ready-to-eat
TRI Toxic Release Inventory
USDA US Department of Agriculture
XML extensible markup language
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R12
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R13
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R14
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R15
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13304.
×
Page R16
Next: Summary »
The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $42.00 Buy Ebook | $33.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the regulatory agency in the US Department of Agriculture that is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and processed egg products produced domestically or imported into the United States are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled. FSIS collects a voluminous amount of data in support of its regulatory functions, but the two major types of FSIS data that are currently being considered for public release are sampling and testing data (derived from standard laboratory tests) and inspection and enforcement data (derived from text written by inspectors). Some of those data are already released to the public in aggregated form but not in disaggregated, establishment-specific form. In recent years, the Obama administration has implemented measures to facilitate openness in government, including the requirement that federal agencies publish information online and provide public access to information in a timely manner; in a form that can be easily retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched with tools that are available on the Internet; and without the need for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The Potential Consequences of Public Release of Food Safety and Inspection Service Establishment-Specific Data examines the potential food-safety benefits and other consequences of making establishment-specific data publicly available on the Internet. The report includes how factors such as level of aggregation, timing of release, level of completeness, and characterization of the data or context in which the data are presented might affect their utility in improving food safety. The report also examines potential ways that food-safety benefits and other effects of publicly posting the data might be measured.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!