By Cat Holmes


University of Georgia

Preventing seafood safety hazards has long been a priority for
University of Georgia food scientist Yao-Wen Huang. But since
9/11, his focus has been on food security as well as food
safety.

“Terrorists may cause chaos and confusion by adding toxic
substances intentionally to food,” said Huang. He has taught
the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system to seafood
industry personnel and government regulatory agencies since
1998.

“Because of this risk, more steps have been added to the
process of documentation and traceability,” Huang said. “We
don’t want anyone using food as a vehicle for terrorism.”

Post 9/11

“The tragic events of September 11 certainly have highlighted
the importance of maintaining and improving [the food safety
infrastructure] and of adapting it to new food safety threats
as they arise,” said Elsa Murano, U.S. Under Secretary for Food
Safety, in remarks given in 2002. “Intentional harm to our food
supply is a unique situation, one that we never envisioned
would take center stage in our country.

“Yet whether intentional or unintentional, threats to the
safety of our food supply can only be addressed by a strong
infrastructure, with systems in place to prevent contamination
and address hazards.”

New threats have necessitated new measures.

HCAAP has been an ideal system to prevent major outbreaks and
has been closely tied to new anti-terrorism measures to ensure
food safety, Huang said. Since systems have already been in
place for pathogens, biosecurity measures have boosted tracking
and transportation safety measures.

“People coming to seafood plants must be checked,” Huang
said. “Distribution trucks and other forms of transportation
must have safeguards.

“All domestic and foreign food manufacturers that have
interstate trade activities in the U.S. must register with the
FDA. And other countries must give prior notice that products
are coming to the [U.S.]. There’s no pulling up in Savannah and
calling to say ‘We have a product here.’”

Pre-9/11

Before September 11, 2001 the purpose of HACCP was to reduce
levels of food-borne pathogens like Salmonella to protect
consumers, in itself a serious mission.

Six years ago, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
passed new regulations designed to increase the margin of
safety and reduce the incidence of food-borne illness, it
marked a big change in the way the U.S. government inspects
food.

“Before 1998, the burden to inspect and protect was on the
government,” Huang said. “Food processors had to take
responsibility for the safety of their products. HACCP made the
government and food processors partners in food safety.”

HACCP uses a systems approach to food safety. Under it,
potential food safety hazards are identified and evaluated.
Then necessary controls are put into place to prevent those
hazards from occurring or to keep them within acceptable
limits.

“We look at the whole system to find which steps we can take to
control outbreaks of food-borne illness,” Huang said.

Typical hazards

There are three kinds of hazards HACCP addresses: chemical,
biological and physical. An example of a chemical hazard is
sodium bisulfite, used as a preservative for iced but not
frozen shrimp.

Since some people are allergic to sodium bisulfite, the HACCP
methods determined that shrimp suppliers must supply a letter
certifying whether or not bisulfites were used. Then the final
product must be labeled to show whether the shrimp contain
sodium bisulfites.

Bio-hazards are pathogens. HACCP determines the point at which
pathogens can be eliminated or reduced. Food must be cooked to
the right temperature to destroy listeria, which is sometimes
found in shellfish. It can be very dangerous if the food
isn’t cooked to the right temperature or long enough.

Physical hazards include particles of metal, glass or wood that
might be unintentionally dropped into the final product.