monitoring meat, poultry, and commercially processed egg products under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, as amended, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, as amended. FSIS is directly responsible for the daily inspection of all meat and poultry entering U.S. commerce. FSIS also shares responsibility with FDA on combination products such as stews and pizzas. For example, FSIS regulates all products that contain 2% or more of poultry and poultry products and 3% or more of red meat or red meat products. FDA regulates all other foods.

In total, thirteen agencies in the federal government have food safety responsibilities.¹⁵ FDA has three centers conducting and supporting food safety activities: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), and the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR). Besides FSIS, the USDA agencies with food safety responsibilities are the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS),which has regulatory programs to protect animals and plants from pests and disease; the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which conducts a wide range of food safety related research; the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), which carries out a program of fundamental and applied research in several areas, including food safety and health; and the Economic Research Service (ERS), which provides cost and benefit information on food-borne illnesses. The National Center for Infectious Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under DHHS, monitors and investigates food-borne illnesses and diseases and shares that information with the other agencies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticides and is charged with setting pesticide-residue tolerances for each pesticide-food combination. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), of the U.S. Treasury Department, regulates production, distribution, and labeling of alcoholic beverages.¹⁶ The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce conducts a voluntary fee-for-service seafood inspection program. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates advertising of food products. The U.S. Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury assists FDA by notifying FDA of incoming shipments of products under FDA jurisdiction. FDA officials examine all paperwork and electronic submissions related to these imports and at times collect samples.

In addition, federal agencies work in close collaboration with state officials. Often, federal agencies such as FDA will train and contract with state enforcement officials to conduct food plant inspections. FDA also developed a model ordinance for milk sanitation and a "Food Code" for retail food store and restaurant sanita-