Maybe Kentucky isn't so odd...

AJ Drew · Oct 28, 2015

Started looking into making powders for commercial / interstate sale. Thought it odd that the Department of Agriculture and the Cabinet for Health seemed to have interweaving jurisdictions. Then I found out that on a federal level there is the same interweaving between the jurisdictions of the Department of Agriculture and the FDA.

Seems the FDA does not regulate meat, poultry, or certain egg products. Those things are under the authority of the Department of Agriculture. So just for giggles, lets see if we can figure out every form of government that is involved in making one of those cans of lets say beef stew or maybe chicken soup.

Kind of curious about the redundancies and waste that could be solved by having a single food authority.

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce · Oct 28, 2015

Beef stew is a smorgasbord of govt intervention. USDA (meat), FDA (food), AHJ (authority having jurisdiction for kitchen license), AHJ (canner's license for kitchen mgr) county health inspectors (post production testing/release process).

Probably more.

Jeff H · Oct 28, 2015

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
Beef stew is a smorgasbord of govt intervention. USDA (meat), FDA (food), AHJ (authority having jurisdiction for kitchen license), AHJ (canner's license for kitchen mgr) county health inspectors (post production testing/release process).

Probably more.

Who would have thought that Hormel could make a profit on Dinty Moore after haivng to go through all that.

They are though. Stock up $.60 so far today.

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce · Oct 28, 2015

Jeff H said:
Who would have thought that Hormel could make a profit on Dinty Moore after haivng to go through all that.

They are though. Stock up $.60 so far today.

The government intervention is only at the onset for the major authorities, and on a batch-to-batch run for the local authorities. Since they make eleventybillion cans at a time, I imagine the cost per can is quite low.

AJ Drew · Oct 28, 2015

Luckydog, where I got to thinking was reading about the 'Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002'. Is where i ran into conflicting information. From the linked site: "All food facilities must register with the FDA." Other authorities say something entirely different.

I get the feeling there are so many different laws being enforced by so many different agencies that even the cogs in the system do not know how everything works together.

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-public-health-preparedness/tips/topics/food_security.html

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce · Oct 28, 2015

ajdrew said:
Luckydog, where I got to thinking was reading about the 'Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002'. Is where i ran into conflicting information. From the linked site: "All food facilities must register with the FDA." Other authorities say something entirely different.

I get the feeling there are so many different laws being enforced by so many different agencies that even the cogs in the system do not know how everything works together.

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-public-health-preparedness/tips/topics/food_security.html

When in doubt, do the paperwork. Better to have it & not need it than to need it and not have it.

Topsmoke · Oct 28, 2015

bureaucracy only knows how to create more bureaucracy! Do any of these regulatory bodies actually stop contamination? the answer is no. Contamination still happens and people still get sick. I want people to keep buying my product and not get sick so it behooves me to be sanitary. Its not an official of some type that finds problems its people getting sick and reporting it. The FDA openly admits they dont test products from other countries. So what are they actually doing? creating hurdles for people to jump through which they wont even call them on unless someone gets sick, so again what do they do for us? Its amazing how we have continued to exsist as a species for so long without all these rules to keep us safe!?!?

P.S. im not sure dinty moore even counts as real food so.......

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce · Oct 29, 2015

Not sure I agree. A lot of people were sickened/killed by an irresponsible food industry.

Unchecked, botulism and other food-born illnesses were rampant.

I don't want to turn this topic into a debate about food safety. And you're right / some contamination happens. But not nearly as much as if it went unchecked.

Some of it ought be redundant, and some might be annoying to producers, but I'm really glad we have food production regulatory oversight. I have no doubt that our country is safer for it.

AJ Drew · Oct 29, 2015

I too am glad there is a health authority. I just think it should be somehow combined so that the person who wants to make a can of beef stew can ask what s/he needs to do to be compliant and get a solid answer from a single source. It should be less confusing.