USDA Food Safety

How Far Has Food Safety Come in 150 years?

Posted by Alexandra Tarrant, Public Affairs Specialist, Food Safety and Inspection Service, on May 3, 2012 at 1:06 PM

Throughout the year, and this month in particular, USDA celebrates 150 years of existence. The legislation that established USDA was signed on May 15, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. At that point, food safety wasn’t a major concern for the People’s Department.

The turning point for domestic meat inspection really came in 1905 and 1906, after Upton Sinclair published The Jungle. The details of the book described unsanitary working conditions in a Chicago meatpacking house, putting meat consumers at risk for disease. This led to the passing of legislation providing for meat inspection. Over the years, Congress passed the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act, which the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) enforces.

Inspection changed from a sight, smell, and touch approach to a more science-based method when Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) was implemented between January 1997 and January 2000. And science and technology improvements have allowed our inspection to evolve as well, with the implementation of new policies like testing ready to eat meat and poultry products forListeria monocytogenes, applying stricter Salmonella and new Campylobacter performance standards to raw poultry products, and declaring that six additional serogroups of pathogenic E. coli (in addition to E. coli O157:H7) are adulterants in non-intact raw beef.

FSIS is in the process of fully implementing a dynamic, comprehensive data analysis system called the Public Health Information System, or PHIS. This system will allow the agency to collect, consolidate and analyze data in a more efficient and effective way, ultimately leading to better protection of the public’s health and a more preventative approach toward inspection.

For more information about FSIS’ history over the years, visithttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/About_FSIS/Agency_History/index.asp.

DOL: Grant Funding for Veterans Training

US Department of Labor announces availability of approximately $12 million in grants to provide job training services for more than 6,000 veterans

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of approximately $12 million in grants through the Veterans' Workforce Investment Program to provide job training and skills development services that will help approximately 6,000 veterans succeed in civilian careers.

"These men and women served our country, and now it is our turn to serve them and to support them. The grants announced today will help ensure our nation's veterans receive the assistance they need as they make the transition to civilian life," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said.

Through funds provided by this program, veterans will receive skills assessments, individual job counseling, labor market information, classroom or on-the-job training, skills upgrades, placement assistance and crucial follow-up services. Veterans also may be eligible for services through other Workforce Investment Act programs for economically disadvantaged or dislocated workers.

The department will award at least 10 grants in 10 states on a competitive basis to state and local workforce investment boards, local public agencies and nonprofit — including faith-based and community —organizations. Grantees must be familiar with the areas and populations to be served, and have demonstrated that they can administer effective programs.

More information about the Department of Labor's unemployment and re-employment programs for veterans can be found at http://www.dol.gov/vets/.

The solicitation for grant applications is available at http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.grants.gov&exitTitle=www.grants.gov&fedpage=yes.

It also may be viewed at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/vwip/main.htm.