FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 1999
Media contact: 800-877-1600
Tom Ryan, ext. 4894, [email protected]
Lori Ferme, ext. 4802, [email protected]
Bridget McManamon, ext. 4769, [email protected]
FOOD SAFETY AND SECURITY: CHALLENGES OF ENSURING AN ADEQUATE, NUTRITIOUS AND SAFE FOOD SUPPLY
There are many good reasons to be concerned about the safety and security of the worldwide supply of food.
As of Oct. 12, there will be six billion good reasons.
On that date, the United Nations projects Earth's population will reach six billion, having doubled since 1960.
Six days -- and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1,271,034 more people -- later, challenges of providing and sustaining an adequate, safe and nutritious food supply in this country and around the world will be high on the agenda at the American Dietetic Association's 82nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, which begins Oct. 18 in Atlanta, Ga. and runs through Oct. 21.
Speakers at several sessions will cover such timely and important topics as President Clinton's national Food Safety Initiative; links between the security of the global food supply and the health of the environment; targeting effective food safety messages to the public; and ways in which consumers can protect themselves and their families from the threat of food-borne illness.
Food safety
As many as 33 million Americans annually contract food-borne illnesses, and about 9,000 die. The home is one of the most common places for food-borne illness to occur, with reported in-home cases rising by 25 percent in the past five years. To raise consumers' awareness of home food safety and to provide solutions for Americans to easily and safely handle food in their kitchens, ADA and the ConAgra Foundation have joined together for Home Food Safety"¢It's in Your Hands, a new national campaign that will run for three years.
"I'm proud that ADA is lending the expertise of its members and the high regard of our association to this initiative," says ADA President Ann Gallagher. "And I'm very pleased that one of the largest and most-respected food companies in the world is partnering with us. Preventing one of those millions of annual cases of food-borne illness makes our involvement worthwhile."
"Home Food Safety: It's in Your Hands" officially will be unveiled at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, during the Millennium Showcase meeting of members. Gallagher will kick off the campaign, joined by Bruce Rohde, chief executive officer of ConAgra Inc.
"ConAgra is honored to partner with ADA in providing clear, useful food safety information that consumers can use at home," Rohde says. "ConAgra is committed to improving food safety at every link along the food chain. Thanks to ADA and its registered dietitians, we believe we can make a measurable positive impact on consumers' food safety practices in their homes."
Philadelphia registered dietitian Joan Horbiak, ADA's national spokesperson for the campaign, will discuss the program and its consumer education messages in a 4 p.m. session Tuesday, Oct. 19, also titled Home Food Safety"¢It's in Your Hands. Results of a national survey of Americans' home food safety practices and knowledge will be released.
Speakers at a 1:30 p.m. session Monday, Oct. 18, The President's Food Safety Initiative and You, will provide updates on the initiative's progress; results of studies on Americans' food handling practices; consumer education materials; and efforts to improve food safety in retail establishments.
President Clinton announced the Food Safety Initiative in 1997. The program, involving the Agriculture Department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration, is intended to reduce Americans' risk of food-borne illness and create the safest possible science-based food system. Speakers include:
* Camille Brewer, international activities coordinator for the Food Safety Initiative at the Food and Drug Administration. She will outline the initiative, latest activities of the government's food safety agencies and ongoing international food safety efforts.
* Marjorie Davidson, FDA's national food safety education officer. Davidson will discuss the development of public educational materials designed to help reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by educating Americans about safe food handling practices.
* Betty Harden, retail food and interstate travel team leader at the FDA. She will talk about the Food Safety Initiative's efforts to promote and ensure food safety in restaurants and retail etablishments.
* Alan Levy, chief of consumer studies at FDA's Center for Food Safety. He will discuss findings and applications of several major studies on consumers' food handling practices, including new research sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speakers at a 4 p.m. session on Wednesday, Oct. 20, Safe at Home Plate: Tips for Educating Consumers, will talk about targeting food safety materials to a variety of audiences. "Changes in eating practices, food technology and distribution and medical care have created new food safety issues," says Carole Bisogni, associate professor in the division of nutritional sciences at Cornell University.
"Consumers' views of these issues are influenced by psychological, social and cultural factors as well as life-course experiences, and they often differ from scientists' estimations of food safety situations. Considering these factors in educational programs is essential to enable consumers to fulfill their important roles in the food safety system."
Food security
A USDA study released in July found more than 10 percent of American households are "food insecure," defined by ADA as "limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways." The study also found over 10 million Americans, one-third of them children, live in households that experienced hunger in 1998. And one of eight people in the U.S., or about 34 million, are at risk of hunger.
Speakers at a two-part session, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability, will discuss ways to enhance food security in the U.S. and around the world, emphasizing links between food security and the health of the environment. Can both be protected and improved at the same time?
In Part 1, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, speakers will focus on the impact of agricultural systems and population dynamics on the sustainable production of food.
* Jean Steiner, director of USDA's J. Phil Campbell Sr. National Resources Research Center, Watkinsville, Ga., will discuss studies she and her colleagues are conducting with local farmers on effects of growing methods on the area's water supply. "In the long term, for the economical and social sustainability of agriculture, we have to be able to develop farming systems we can show are not presenting environmental hazards," she says.
* Patricia Baldi Waak, senior advisor on population and habitat at the National Audubon Society, will cover what she calls "the global nature of people, their actions and how they affect food availability and the environment, now and in the future."
In Part 2, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, speakers will discuss governmental, educational and private efforts to help people develop and maintain an adequate supply of food.
* Brian Halweil, staff researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., will cover the "nutrition transition phenomenon," which he calls "the dominant trend in nutrition throughout the world. People in poorer countries are moving from traditional plant-based, low-fat, high-fiber diets and toward a 'Western diet' with more meat, dairy, fat and refined sugars. This has very serious implications. What would it mean to have huge portions of the planet demanding more meat? What would it mean for India to have 200 million diabetics?"
* Jeffrey Jordan, Southern regional director of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and professor at the University of Georgia, will discuss examples of sustainable agriculture projects that help feed low-income people in mostly rural communities. The SARE program, sponsored by the USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, funds research and education efforts by farmers, nongovernment agencies and community-based organizations.
* Patricia Wolman, chair of the department of human nutrition at Winthrop University, will talk about roles and responsibilities of registered dietitians in addressing food security problems among their patients and clients. "Should we be more involved in making sure people have food to eat in the first place?" she says. Wolman will outline innovative ways in which Winthrop University incorporates food security issues into its nutrition curriculum.
Two post-conference workshops, each at 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, will also look at questions -- and potential solutions -- regarding food security and sustainable agriculture.
* Atlanta Community Food Bank and Atlanta's Table: A Model of Success will include a briefing on basic issues of hunger in America, a demonstration of the food bank's operations, and examples of programs and other practical hunger-relief ideas that can be used in other cities.
* Meet the Organic Farmer will include a tour of Gaia Gardens of East Lake Commons, 10 acres of organic gardens where residents participate in their own program of community-supported organic agriculture.
The 70,000-member American Dietetic Association is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. Approximately 10,000 of the nation's top nutrition researchers, registered dietitians and industry leaders will attend ADA's 82nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition. The Chicago-based ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being.
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