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CNN Live At Daybreak
Another Potential Terrorism Target is Nation's Food Supply
Aired November 01, 2001 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another potential terrorism target, as if you needed one, the nation's food supply, so authorities are taking steps to ensure the safety of our food. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is voicing major concerns, however. "The New York Times" has quoting him as saying, "Am I satisfied with the inspections we're doing? No, I am more fearful about this than anything else," end of quote.
Those inspections are done by the Agriculture Department, as he said. Secretary Ann Veneman is in Washington now, with the Agriculture Department,
Good to have you with us this morning.
ANN VENEMAN, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Do you share the concern that Secretary Thompson voiced in "The Times?"
VENEMAN: Well, we are always on guard with regard to our food supply, and as you know, we share responsibility with the Department of Health and Human Services for food safety issues. The Food and Drug Administration, which is under the auspices of Health and Human Services, has authority over inspection of most processed foods. We in Department of Agriculture have authority of inspection over meat and poultry, as well as protecting our food and agriculture supply from unwanted pests and diseases that can harm our agriculture systems.
O'BRIEN: Mrs. Veneman, I still weren't to go back to that quote from Mr. Thompson. He says, "I am more fearful about this than anything else." Is that a bit of hyperbole, or is that something that should be at top of everyone's list?
VENEMAN: Well, I think we always have to be on guard with regard to our food supply, although I am confident that we have systems in place, that are doing everything they can to protect the food supply, and that we continue to review our systems constantly to make sure that ey are sufficient and adequate to protect our food supply.
We in the Department of Agriculture have been dealing with these issues all year long as we deal with the threat of the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease into our animal livestock. Now while this not human health safety issue, it could devastate our livestock herds, and we have been reviewing all of our inspectors, our points of entry for product, to make sure that we don't have such an unwanted disease that would be introduced into this country.
Likewise, we have inspection systems in our meat and poultry plants, we have been working with agriculture producers on armed farm security systems for our food, and we continue to look at every avenue we can to make sure the food supply in this country is protected.
Just this week, we had a conference in USDA with about 1,700 people in the states, and with veterinarians all around the country, to look at additional precautions that need to be taken, to make sure that we take every step possible to ensure that nothing impairs our food supply in this country.
O'BRIEN: It has got to be difficult, though, because when you look at the airline industry, for example, there has been a threat of hijacking for many years now, and security has been at least on the radar screen for quite sometime. In a sense, the FAA has a running start. And also, it's more clear as to which agency is controlling. As I understand it, there are 15 separate agencies that get involved in food inspections.
I'm curious if there is enough time to react in a way that can provide some measure of safety and security for people.
VENEMAN: Well, I think there is. There are two main agencies. There is the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has authority over meat and poultry inspection, as well as authority over pest and animals diseases, and pests -- plant and animal pests and diseases, I should say, and then there is the Food and Drug Administration, which is under HHS, Tommy Thompson's agency, and that has authority over most of our food processing plants. The processed foods that you get in grocery store.
Now keep in mind, the processed food industry has dealt with a number of issues over the years, food safety scares, and they have taken steps continuously to ensure that product can't be tampered with, that product is safe to eat, and they continue to work very, very vigilantly to make sure product that the product that goes into the supermarket is very, very safe for consumers to eat.
I would also caution that the consumer has a big role. The consumer has to wash their fruits and vegetables, make sure they cook their meats thoroughly, and most of our food-borne illness in this country comes from improper handling of food, and so he we have to make sure the consumer consistently handles his or her food as well.
O'BRIEN: All right, that's a little bit of advice for folks, but there have been so many vague threats that we have been talking about, and so much fear out there. Is there anything that folks can take away from this that could give them some measure of a sense of security of the food supply? Do you feel is there anything they could do besides wash their food, in other words? VENEMAN: Well I think consumers ought to feel confident that government is continuing to review all of our systems to make sure that we are taking every step possible to ensure food safety, that I believe food companies are taking the same kinds of precautions. I believe grocery stores are taking the same kind of precautions, and farmers on farms are taking new security measures, so at every step of the food chain, both in the private sector and in government, we are continuing to work together, to review systems and to ensure that our food will have all of the precautions taken that we possibly can to ensure the safety of the food supply for our consumers.
O'BRIEN: Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, thanks for being with us this morning with some thought for food, I guess.
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