Food Protection Trends - April 2010 - 236

WhAT’S hAPPENING IN FOOD SAFETY
Council Foundation (Foundation) provides valuable insight into how consumers perceive and use the Nutrition Facts panel (NFP) found on food and beverage labels. Based on the overall findings from its three-phase research project, the Foundation learned that consumers generally have a positive perception of the food label, but also found that there are several ways the label potentially could be enhanced to help people understand the information provided and use it even more effectively: • Mentioning a government body, like the FDA, in a highly used area of the NFP, such as a header in the main body of the NFP, increases consumer trust in the information provided, particularly serving size; • Moving the location of calories into the main body of the NFP appears to encourage greater use of this information; • Adding the percent Daily Value (%DV) of calories helps consumers consider a product’s calorie contribution within the context of their daily diet; and • Moving the information in the current footnote into an easily referenced column in the main body of the NFP greatly increases consumers’ ability to evaluate a product. “We believe that addressing consumers’ need for usable information on the Nutrition Facts panel will accelerate efforts to improve the diet and health of Americans,” said International Food Information Council Foundation President and CEO David B. Schmidt. With the FDA looking into NFP changes and studying how these changes may affect consumers’ understanding of the information provided on the label, the Foundation has shared this research to assist the Agency with its work. The Foundation’s research highlights the critical need for conducting additional consumer research to determine if the benefits of certain enhancements to the NFP outweigh any confusion they may generate. Also, any changes must be accompanied by appropriate consumer education to ensure that people know how to use the information provided. Key findings from the three Foundation research studies, including visuals of the consumer-suggested label enhancements tested: (1) Food Label Consumer Research: Qualitative Phases Summary Report (2008), (2) Food Label Consumer Research Project: Quantitative Phase III Summary Report (2009), and (3) Food & Health Survey (2009), are available at www. foodinsight.org. For the full research reports and any other questions, please contact the Foundation media team at 202.296.6540, Mittenthal@ific.org or Matthews@ific.org. The framework, announced at the National Association of State Department of Agriculture’s (NASDA) Mid-Year meeting, provides the basic tenets of an improved animal disease traceability capability in the United States. USDA’s efforts will: • Only apply to animals moved in interstate commerce; • Be administered by the States and Tribal Nations to provide more flexibility; • Encourage the use of lowercost technology; and • Be implemented transparently through federal regulations and the full rulemaking process. “One of my main goals for this new approach is to build a collaborative process for shaping and implementing our framework for animal disease traceability,” said Sec.Vilsack. “We are committed to working in partnership with States, Tribal Nations and industry in the coming months to address many of the details of this framework, and giving ample opportunity for farmers and ranchers and the public to provide us with continued input through this process.” One of USDA’s first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for the States and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability we envision. Additionally, USDA will be revamping the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health to address specific issues, such as confidentiality and liability. Although USDA has a robust system in place to protect US agriculture, with the announcement, the Department will also be taking several additional actions to further strengthen protections against the entry and spread of disease. These steps will include accelerating actions to lessen the risk from diseases–such as tuberculosis–posed by imported animals, initiating and

USDA Announces New Framework for Animal Disease Traceability

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griculture Secretary Vilsack has announced that the USDA will develop a new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability in the United States, and undertake several other actions to further strengthen its disease prevention and response capabilities. “After concluding our listening tour on the National Animal Identification System in 15 cities across the country, receiving thousands of comments from the public and input from States, Tribal Nations, industry groups, and representatives for small and organic farmers, it is apparent that a new strategy for animal disease traceability is needed,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I’ve decided to revise the prior policy and offer a new approach to animal disease traceability with changes that respond directly to the feedback we heard.”

236 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | APRIL 2010
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Food Protection Trends - April 2010

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