NFPA’s Dr. Rhona Applebaum—
The Battle for Food Supply Security

Rhona Applebaum, Ph.D., is the Executive Vice President for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the National Food Processors Association (NFPA). As NFPA’s chief scientific spokesperson on food safety and inspection issues, nutrition, and biotechnology, Dr. Applebaum, who holds a Ph.D. in Food Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin and an MS in Nutrition and Food Science from Drexel University, today finds herself on the industry front lines in the struggle to ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply. We spoke to Dr. Applebaum for an inside look at how the nation’s food processors are addressing issues raised by the September 11th tragedy and at the steps the government is taking in these efforts.

FoodTechSource.com: What do you see are the main security issues facing the food processing industry since the September 11th tragedy?

Rhona Applebaum, Ph.D.: Post 9-11, on the day immediately following that tragic event, our industry organized a conference call with the Food and Drug Administration, the regulatory agency that oversees 85 percent of the nation’s food supply, to get a better understanding of what was being done. As you can imagine, just 24 hours after the fact, not everyone had a clear strategy on where we needed to go. So, we went back to our member companies and told them to review their crisis management plans, make sure their security measures were as tight as they could be. Our philosophy is that security is vital.

FTS: So, initially you were approaching it from the get-your-own-house-in-order position?

Applebaum: Yes. On the other hand, if anyone should think that food processors in and of themselves can ensure security, that is a fallacy. When you’re looking at the food supply from farm to table it’s very much a team effort. So, we decided to form what we are calling the Alliance for Food Security. This is a group of now over 80 organizations—industry and government entities, and professional societies like the Association for Food and Drug Officials and the International Life Sciences Institute—who have come together to share information. Because we’re all in this together. Everyone has a role to play, something they can do to tighten the security chain from the farmer all the way up to the retailer.

“The Alliance for Food Security is a group of over 80 organizations who [since September 11th] have come together to share information.”

FTS: Who formed this?

Applebaum: It was initiated by the NFPA. We look at food security as you would a relay race, where somebody gets the baton, they know where the baton came from, and as soon as they finish their segment of the race they hand it off. You can only be responsible for what you did in terms of who you received it from and who you gave it to.

FTS: But isn’t that a precaution food processors already take out of self-preservation—because processors have to be careful they don’t receive contaminated ingredients and produce contaminated food, and as a result get sued out of business?

Applebaum: Absolutely. We do it as it relates to food safety issues. But food safety and food security are two different things.

FTS: How so?

Applebaum: We regard food security as the big umbrella, and underneath it is food safety. Obviously you’re making sure the systems you have in place are secure to avoid any type of food safety issue. But the primary focus of food safety is not to address acts of criminal intent, but rather to ensure against accidents due to process failures. Since 9-11 we have had to focus on threats as opposed to hazards. You are now talking about intentional evil. That’s why we are doing everything we can to make sure there are no weak links in the chain.

FTS: Yet it seems the one big weak link here is caused by the global nature of today’s food industry. We are importing so many of our ingredients and so much of our fresh produce; how do we verify the integrity of that product?

Applebaum: It is difficult. And for that reason it is absolutely essential you have a relationship with your supplier, that you are familiar with your supplier, that you’ve done the necessary audits and assessments of your supplier, and that you try to ensure that when the product leaves their facility it is as secure as it can be until it comes into your possession. And that includes knowing the transportation link.

“It is absolutely essential you have a relationship with your supplier, that you’ve done all the necessary audits and assessments...”

FTS: Was the integrity of that transportation link one of the security issues prior to 9-11?

Applebaum: It was one of those things companies had an appreciation for, but some companies were less vigilant than others. Now it’s to a point where if someone is dropping off ingredients at your back door, number one you get a handle on the driver and make a check. Whether you’ve known them for years or been familiar with the company for years, know the people who are entering your facility, who are bringing things in, and who are taking things out.

FTS: The food industry is so tightly self-regulated, it makes the government’s job a little easier in this time of crisis, doesn’t it—particularly the question of how much money they will need to throw at the problem?

Applebaum: There are still issues that need to be addressed. We are in a partnership; the government is very much a stakeholder in the safety of the food supply. We work together because of the limited amount of resources, and because we want to make sure we’re not duplicating efforts. And there is much the government can do to help.

FTS: Such as?

Applebaum: What we could really use right now are methods and testing procedures that perform in “real time,” so that if there is a particular biological or chemical threat, we don’t have to rely on methods that take days instead of hours. They could be of great assistance there. We also need to work with the government to upgrade their information systems—such as the OASIS system, which is a computer database that’s used with imports to assess various importers and to know what’s coming from where, when, and to be able to track it. One of the most critical needs within any food processing facility or any laboratory is the ability to track chain of custody, whether for an ingredient or a product—especially when it is coming from offshore.

“What we could really use right now are methods and testing procedures that perform in ‘real time.’ The government could be of great assistance there.”

FTS: Yet, there are also so many steps at which tampering could occur, and it could take so many forms. Do you think the government is doing enough—and doing it fast enough?

Applebaum: At this point in time we do. And we want to make sure that whatever actions they take go through the necessary deliberations and assessments because it would be very easy, given the current state of heightened concern, to be thrust into a command and control situation—“You shall do this” and “You must have that.” We want to make sure that whatever regulations are instituted, that they make a difference, they’re effective, as opposed to just making people feel better.

FTS: One of the suggestions coming out of Washington—and it’s been around for a long time—is of putting the FDA and the USDA under one umbrella with regard to food. Is this potentially one of those vacuous, quick-fix propositions?

Applebaum: At this point we are not behind the single food agency concept. We have not been persuaded—from a scientific perspective and/or a legal perspective—it would make a significant difference. Again, we want to make sure any policies put in place to “govern” the food supply are based on sound science with the use of risk assessment to identify what those priority issues are, as well as the resource needs. Right now the concept of putting it all under one roof is just a concept—it’s like saying we’ll have a roof in place but we don’t know what the structure is going to be. So why spend all this money buying the best shingles and the best wood when you don’t have the design plans for the support structure?

FTS: Do you see a need to eventually update what some consider an antiquated system?

Applebaum: Four years ago the President’s Food Safety Initiative was instituted and look at the significant advances that have resulted. And it didn’t call for a reorganization of the agencies. What it did was instill the need for better communication, better cooperation, collaboration and coordination among existing food safety agencies at the federal and state levels.

FTS: Are you familiar with the food security action teams the government agencies are forming?

Applebaum: I know FDA has theirs, and USDA has formed the Food Biosecurity Action Team (F-BAT). Both are examples of exactly what the government needs to be doing—forging better cooperation, communication, collaboration and coordination within their own groups as well as between agencies with more interagency meetings.

FTS: In the F-BAT press release it states they are “to address potential security improvements, including upgrading internal surveillance and response capabilities, and strengthening scientific support for activities related to biological threats.”

Applebaum: Yes. And I think that is a good step. Anything that is going to foster better communication is a good step.

FTS: Addressing the needs of independent food processors for a moment, what would you suggest are the five most important steps they take to shore up their internal food security program?

“Assess [your] threats to see where [your] vulnerabilities lie, and institute the necessary controls.”

Applebaum: They need to assess their threats to see where their vulnerabilities lie, and institute the necessary controls. We’ve given our members several documents to help them with this, one of which is called Threat Exposure, Assessment and Management (TEAM) Process. We’re also putting together a security checklist of questions designed to provide companies with a document to facilitate self-assessment of food security measures by identifying a wide range of factors that should be considered. It is designed to focus not only on personnel and the human factor, but also on the environments surrounding and within the facility, to make sure they are utilizing sound practices. For example, to make sure they know who is in their facility and why—whether that’s through photo IDs or magnetic cards to get you into and out of certain areas. And to make sure anyone who comes into the plant is being accompanied at all times by someone who works at the facility. We represent the very small to the very large, and they are different—some of our companies are family operations and if there are 10 people involved in a particular company they know each other and if somebody comes in who doesn’t belong they know right away. Not so with large facilities. Also, to make sure there is the necessary training in place so that employees new to the facility know what to expect and where things should and shouldn’t be. We also want to make sure our companies are performing the necessary employee checks—that includes knowing who brings your ingredients and who takes them away—have a strong appreciation of who these companies are and who their employees are. Trust but verify. And make sure the necessary locks are in place on doors and windows. You want to put up as many hurdles as you can.

FTS: And lock up the lab?

Applebaum: An excellent point—implement tighter restrictions in labs, making sure laboratory materials used in quality assurance testing are secured under lock and key, and that when they are brought out they are not left unattended.

FTS: What about the very real threat posed by overreacting? There was, for example, a recent article in the Los Angeles Times suggesting how easy it would be for a terrorist to place Salmonella or E. coli in our hamburger supplies. In fact, if you take the proper cooking precautions this is not a serious, anthrax-level threat at all.

Applebaum: Absolutely. And when we are sending this information out to the public and to companies we want to make sure they do not forget those basic tenets of food safety. Because if they start focusing on security and forget the basics—about washing hands, about cross contamination, cooking to the right temperature, cooling quickly so you don’t give the bugs a chance to grow—it increases the potential for large numbers of people to be made sick. So, even though we may be focusing in on one particular issue that is getting a lot of attention right now, we can’t lose sight of everything else we need to do.