4.1 Introduction
Consumers in the United States enjoy the safest and healthiest food supply in the world. The foundation of this success is our system of food safety and inspection laws. Important federal regulatory programs have been effectively applied in recent years to improve all segments of our extensive food safety system, including food production and distribution chain, animal and plant husbandry, processing, transportation, and preparation. Recently there has been increased interest in nutrition policy. It is recognized that healthy and nutritious products are critical to preventing cancer and other diseases, reducing obesity and diabetes, and maintaining overall good health.
The U.S. food safety system should be consistently reviewed and updated. Reform should be based on risk, as well as the best available, scientifically-proven technologies, such as irradiation. It should eliminate duplication and improve efficiency. It should ensure consistency between federal agencies, and afford state regulators and industry a forum in which to seek clarification when information is inconsistent. Reform should also retain those elements of current laws which meet the current-science standard, and which have assured the U.S. the safest food supply to date.