I had to read this headline twice!
An article discussing the recent spike in Cyclospora cases says the produce industry is urging public health officials to “partner with produce, not assign blame.”
Really?
I agree that regulators need solid science and evidence before publicly blaming the wrong product, company, or industry. Getting the source wrong can have devastating consequences of its own.
But let’s not confuse avoiding premature conclusions with avoiding accountability.
Coming from the beef industry, we lived with a very different reality when it came to food safety. If your product was responsible for making people sick, the question wasn’t whether you would be held accountable. The question was how many zeros would be on the settlement checks.
Accountability starts long before an outbreak.
Every food safety system needs good, scientifically validated procedures followed by ongoing verification to make sure those procedures are actually working.
That verification also requires a strong microbiological testing program backed by reliable laboratory science. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and you can’t verify a food safety system without good data. Whether testing is conducted internally or through an independent laboratory, accurate and defensible results are an essential part of knowing whether your controls are actually working.
A program on paper is not enough.
Prevention matters. Validation matters. Verification matters. Testing matters. Corrective actions matter.
Food safety absolutely requires collaboration between industry, regulators and public health officials. It requires good science, accurate epidemiology and getting the source right.
But once the evidence identifies the source, accountability absolutely matters too.
The goal shouldn’t be to avoid blame. The goal should be to prevent illnesses in the first place, find the truth when something goes wrong, fix the problem and hold the responsible parties accountable.
Maybe it’s my years in the beef industry talking, but the phrase “not assign blame” simply doesn’t sit right with me when we’re talking about people getting sick from food.
What do others in the food safety industry think?
Am I reading this wrong, or does this headline send the wrong message?