Improving the Safety of Produce and Processed Food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees about 80 percent of the nation’s food supply,  including fruits, vegetables, dairy, and many processed foods, regardless of whether they were produced domestically or imported. A series of deadly foodborne illness outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated products prompted the enactment of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2011. This landmark law shifted the agency’s focus from reacting to such outbreaks to working to prevent the contamination that causes them.

The resources below are part of Pew’s work to ensure that the FDA issues well-designed regulations to implement FSMA, and that Congress provides the agency with the necessary funding to build an effective food safety system for the 21st century.