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American Morning

Homeland Security: Interview of Food Safety Expert on Anthrax

Aired October 15, 2001 - 09:47   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With all the fears about anthrax, authorities are also paying more attention to the safety of our food and our water. A recent General Accounting Office report says there are problems in our ability to test the safety of our food supply.

Medical correspondent Rea Blakey is in Maryland with some tips on food safety.

Good morning again, Rea.

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, good morning to you.

I just wanted to remind all of our viewers that the U.S. Agriculture Department says that the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in the world.

That being said, agriculture officials also note that there is a great need for concern at this time. The possibility of agri- terrorism has been extremely heightened since September 11.

We did have an experience in this country with agri-terrorism before. You recall back in 1984 there was an salmonella outbreak in Oregon when people who tried to control a local election sprinkled salmonella on salad bars in about 10 different restaurants, making some 750 violently ill.

The psychological effect of such a thing is devastating along with the physical effect. But also economically, agri-terrorism really could strike a cord in the United States. Last year, in November of 2000, there was a simulation, a theory, about what would happen if foot and mouth disease entered the country, an extremely lethal and contagious disease among animals. Basically, they started with the theory that there might be one pig infected. That pig taken to auction, exposed to other livestock -- sheep, cattle, etcetera -- the disease would then transmit, theoretically, to at least 30 other farms and ranches. Within four days, 10,000 animals would be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.

This would cost, according to the Agriculture Department, billions of dollars, not only in destroying the infected animals, but also in recouping the funds to farmers whose livestock would be gone. The Pentagon says over the course of 15 years it would cost the U.S. consumer an additional $20 billion in increased cost for food supplies as well as the reduced availability of livestock production.

So you can see it would have a very deep effect, if in fact there were an agri-terrorism attack in the United States -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Rea -- appreciate that report.

Along with the cafeteria line, the food court at the mall and the supermarket also provide a potential for danger.

For more perspective on just how safe our food supply is, Catherine Woteki joins us from Washington. She is a former food safety expert with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

CATHERINE WOTEKI, FMR. FOOD SAFETY UNDERSECRETARY: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: I just wanted you to comment a little bit on this new report out from the GAO where they basically the system is much too fragmented the way it's set up and that we are not addressing safety as carefully as we should be. Your thoughts on that?

WOTEKI: At the federal level, the safety responsibilities for food are shared among three different Cabinet-level departments: the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the EPA. They have mechanisms that have developed over the years for coordinating their activities and for sharing information.

But this is one of the aspects of our critical public health infrastructure that really has the need for an infusion of funds. About 76 million Americans get a food-borne illness each year. That's about 1 in 4 of us. It results in about 325,000 hospitalizations, and about 5,000 deaths a year. So this is a very important cause of illness in the United States, and one that is also largely preventable.

ZAHN: Do you think the system, the way it is set up today, is too cumbersome to address some of these new threats that Americans are painfully aware of?

WOTEKI: There are some weakness in this system, and there are some great strengths in it. One of the weakness is that the Food and Drug Administration, which has the responsibilities for all of the safety of all of food supply except meat, poultry, and egg products, has had very little resources over the last several years for inspecting food. So less than 2 percent, for example, of our imports of food that are under the FDA's purview are inspected; that's an area where we need to have a building up of that public health infrastructure.

In comparison, in the Department of Agriculture's area of responsibility, meat and poultry, all of the meat and poultry that is imported into this country is inspected.

ZAHN: So bottom line, then. What do you tell the American public today about the safety of their food? When they go to supermarket, can they be reasonably assured that the stuff has been checked appropriately and it's OK to eat?

WOTEKI: They can be assured that we do have among the safest of food supplies in world. But there are also a lot of things that we can do to protect ourselves and to protect our families. One of the most important thing is make sure that when you're cooking foods that you cook them to the right temperatures.

What I recommend is that people use a thermometer, one of those instant-read thermometers that you can get at the grocery store or at a cookware shop. Things like hamburgers should be cooked to 160 degrees. Foods that you're serving cooked should be steaming hot when you serve them. And that will kill microorganisms that cause disease.

For things like fruits and vegetables, that you are going to eat raw, the best thing is to wash them under running water thoroughly. And when you are cutting them, make sure that you're using a clean knife and cutting board and that you have washed your hands and that you are not cross-contaminating with some other food like chicken or meat that your may have cut in that area.

ZAHN: Very good advice that we all need to be reminded of, because I think we forget that.

Catherine Woteki, thank you so much for your help this morning. We appreciate it.

WOTEKI: You're welcome.

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