[AIB Up Front] Could we not see the warning signs?

In November 2007, FDA revealed its Food Protection Plan. This plan integrates global food safety and food defense measures to help the food industry identify, prevent and respond to ever-changing threats and issues. Since the plan was released, I have been asked by several people why the FDA combined food safety and food defense. At first glance, the obvious reason for the combination seems to be the overwhelming concerns we have about terrorism. But, the recent melamine events that have flooded media outlets are a real world example of intentional adulteration.

I admit that I don’t know the complete story behind the recent melamine scandal. But, the bottom line is that some suppliers at China’s lower level of the supply chain intentionally used protein powder (made with melamine) to raise the nitrogen levels of animal feeds, milk and other products. I suspect that those involved did not realize it was a serious food safety issue at first. They were basically performing economic fraud, but it resulted in the hospitalization of thousands of infants and even several deaths.

Intentional acts for economic gain are not new events in the food industry. But these recent deliberate acts that resulted in serious supplier concerns confirmed the importance of FDA’s plan on a global and domestic level.

The melamine-laced milk and infant formula events have taken intentional contamination to a new level. After the melamine contaminated pet food incident in the United States in 2007 that killed cats and dogs, the industry is still recovering. But now, we must ask ourselves why we have allowed history to repeat itself. Why were U.S. and Chinese regulating agencies not investigating these scandalous practices to see how they could potentially affect other ingredients and industries?

However, we can’t place all of the blame on our government agencies. As food producers who source suppliers and ingredients from China, we should have seen the warning signs. It’s understandable how the initial melamine incident affecting pet food may have come in under our radar. But, after the issue was publicized, we have no excuse for missing the warning signs. Why did it take the death of infants to expand our investigations? Government failed, the global food industry failed, our supply partners failed…and our customers are rightly concerned.

As I travel the world, I realize that the food industry has become dangerously comfortable with the many food safety schemes that are available. While these independent food safety schemes add value to our system and provide a sense of security and confidence, intentional acts are not easily found during audits and inspections. So, how did we miss the warning signs of further melamine contamination after the events in the pet food industry? It is easy to blame the lack of control in China or to blame our own government, but we are responsible for responding to these warnings and having supplier control.

The author is Vice President of Food Safety Education, AIB International.