Companies Join Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

Companies Join Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness such as: W.K. Kellogg, Kellanova, the National Restaurant Association, and the International Dairy Foods Association — have joined the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness to bolster food safety across the supply chain. This initiative, driven by Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP), aims to foster collaboration between leading food companies and consumers affected by food safety failures. By putting safety first consumers can feel better about their everyday eating choices. “Safety needs to be a central value of our food system,” said Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Alliance Program Director. “We know a lot of companies are already doing the right thing. The Alliance is a unique collaborative where companies are working together to advance their food safety cultures and those in their supply chains through best practice sharing. People continue to become gravely ill from food and we’re trying something new to drive those numbers down.”

Every year one in six people become ill with foodborne illness. That’s an estimated 48 million people. 128,000 require hospitalization and sadly 3,000 of those will perish from the illness. Launched in 2018 with ten companies, the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness now includes more than 20 industry partners, with the recent addition of Kellanova and W.K. Kellogg (formerly Kellogg Company), the National Restaurant Association, and the International Dairy Foods Association.

I was pleasantly surprised to see many popular names aligned with this initiative. Everyday household names including current members of the Alliance encompass a wide range of industry leaders, including the American Frozen Food Institute, Cargill, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Conagra Brands, Consumer Brands Association, Costco Wholesale, Empirical Foods, The Hershey Company, JBS, Maple Leaf Foods, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, TreeHouse Foods, Walmart, Wawa and Wegmans.

“The Alliance continues to grow its outreach and resources, drawing on industry thought leaders and our consumer advocates’ powerful, life-altering stories,” Coffman added. “One example of this collaboration is our award-winning innovative online food safety culture toolkit for small- and medium-sized companies. So far, over 600 companies across 81 countries have accessed this free resource.”

CEO Mitzi D. Baum has great words to share about this initiative “Stop Foodborne Illness was created for those parents.  And for spouses, children and loved ones that were looking for answers but could find none.  STOP is here to amplify the many voices that have experienced great trauma from something as base as eating; for those that understand that public health and food safety are synonymous; and, for the courageous individuals that share their personal tragedy to prevent others from having the same experience.  We want you to know that you are not alone whether you are in crisis, post-crisis or managing the life-long complications that can accompany surviving contaminated food.”

The History of Stop Foodborne Illness Organization

Incorporated as a not-for-profit in California in 1994, STOP began as a grassroots effort. The U.S. government and non-governmental organizations were not addressing this public safety issue and STOP stepped in to fill the void. The founders knew that increasing awareness about foodborne pathogens had to be a guiding principle.

Initially, STOP learned that there is not a singular government agency – there are many – that oversee food safety in the U.S. We also identified the lack of effective communication at all levels of governmental hierarchy – federal, state and local. It was clear that we weren’t the only organization seeking answers. As STOP became more knowledgeable of how food becomes contaminated, the weaknesses of the system and the complexity of the challenge of preventing foodborne illness became very apparent.

STOP added its strong voice to the Safe Food Coalition, a group of consumer, public health and labor organizations which has advocated for improvements to the food safety system, particularly with respect to meat and poultry, since 1986. Industry held power, influence, and money. Victims’ families and survivors held onto lives that had been irreparably altered by foodborne illness. Families continued to tell their stories through the advocacy of STOP and its coalition partners.

STOP’s voices became a clarion call for change and eventually STOP was invited to participate in policy making. After countless hours spent educating the USDA and the meat industry about the devastation caused by E. coli, STOP became a key element in facilitating the first meat and poultry reforms since 1906. In 1996, STOP founders Roni and Nancy, were invited to witness this historic overhaul being signed into law by President Clinton.

In 2010, after holding a rally in Washington, DC, in front of the Department of Agriculture building, asking them to declare non-O157 E. coli bacteria as adulterants, we were invited to meet later that year with the Undersecretary for Food Safety at the USDA for the same reason.

Then, in January 2011, due in large part to the tireless efforts of the constituents of STOP and our coalition partners, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 2751 The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law. The FDA now possesses mandatory recall authority, and must inspect facilities more frequently.

In 2012, the USDA agreed and confirmed that non-O157 E. coli  (O26, O103, O45, O111, O121, O145) would be considered adulterants to our meat supply.

To learn more about food safety news, current recalls and other important (and sometimes fun) food facts keep an eye on Make Food Safe.

By: Samatha Cooper