U.S. Department of Agriculture
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is one of more than a dozen U.S. executive-managed government agencies; this one administers programs and rules having to do with agriculture, including food imports and diseases of plants and livestock. The head of the agency is usually invited to be a member of the President's cabinet. It is widely known by its abbreviation, USDA. The department has a wide range of missions. From its strategic plan, its key activities are:
Food safetyUSDA has regulatory, inspection, and research responsibilities in protecting the U.S. food supply. RegulatoryUSDA sets "standards of identity" for foods. A trivial example is that in a label for a food containing a mixture of ingredients, the predominant one must be listed first: "gravy and meatballs", rather than "meatballs and gravy". Individual cheeses, labeled as cheese, must meet certain criteria such as milkfat, but there is a spectrum:
A much more serious role is designating microorganisms that are potential threats to crops or livestock. USDA participates in the Select Agent Program to regulate handling organisms that have the greatest potential for use as biological weapons. A given organism might be a purely agricultural threat, such as foot-and-mouth disease or camelpox, to an overlap agent that threatens both humans and agriculture, such as anthrax or tularemia. InspectionIn USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) checks commercial production of meat, poultry, and egg products. ResearchThe Department, specifically FSIS, manages the The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) which was established on March 18, 1988, in response to recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences and the Departmental appropriations for Fiscal Year 1998. Other participants in NACMCF include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the U.S. Department of Defense Veterinary Service Activity. |