Government agencies that administer regulations in the U.S Supermarket and Grocery Store Industry

Safety is the first concern that comes to mind when one brings up a topic relating to the retail of food products. This complex challenge of assuring safe food has led to numerous federal and state government agencies having a role in U.S. food safety matters. This paper provides an overview of the role of various agencies that formulate and implement regulations relating to food safety, taking into consideration the economic rationale and compliance measures associated with them. Essentially, this paper will focus on the analysis of a few critical ‘prohibited acts’ administered by the law.¹

Much of U.S. food law is predicated on federal law, albeit many states withal have addressed issues relating to food safety.  The number of agencies involved in food safety research, regulation and inculcation integrates further intricacy, but it additionally illustrates the breadth of issues involved in assuring a safe food supply. All federal agencies are granted their ascendancy from Congress; federal agencies can do no more to regulate food safety than Congress sanctions them to do. Thus food safety issues often take on a political appearance as Congress works to define the role of regime in addressing these concerns. The substratum for federal regime involvement in many of food issues lies in the U.S. Constitution.² Federal statutory law clearly mentions that it is regulating only those food items that involve interstate commerce; but the truth is that approximately all food involves interstate commerce. As a consequence, the federal regime has ascendancy to regulate proximately all food engendered or consumed in the country.

Food safety concerns frequently fixate on the processing sector of the industry; it is only since the mid-1990s that discussions about food safety have broaden to encompass "farm to table."  Despite the integrated breadth, the accentuation for food safety is still on processing and final preparation of food items. Accordingly, this exordium to agencies involved with food safety commences with an overview of agencies responsible for regulating the processing sector of the industry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) primarily, but not entirely, fixates on the processing of food products; that is, post-harvest. FDA inspects facilities, accumulates and analyzes samples of products and provides standards for labeling on food packages.³ It relies on scientific expertise in consummating its mission. "The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged."⁴ FSIS inspects the operations of plants processing meat and poultry products as the plants are being operated; these plants cannot operate without a federal inspector or federally-approved inspector on site. It withal inspects the animal before slaughter and the product after slaughter. Albeit not directly regulating food processing businesses, the Centers for Disease Control and Obviation of the Department of Health and Human Accommodations impacts the food industry through its role of obviating food-borne illnesses and its involvement when a food safety quandary arises. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating the utilization of pesticides on food. ^5&6

In terms of economic rationale relating to these regulations, the benefits from providing information about risks must be considered in light of the costs. For example, the FDA might refrain from passing an incipient drug for testing to reduce risks, but this is costly to the people whose lives could be preserved if the drug were approved. However, the flipside is also equally compelling in that several lives could have been lost if a potentially hazardous drug were to be freely marketed without proper prior testing, of the highest order.

In order to comply with these regulations, enterprises from within this industry such as Walmart and Tesco must establish certain expected standards that will inevitably increase costs. These measures may include sourcing limitations or mandatory labelling requirements, for instance. This would mean that foodstuffs which do not meet federal requirements cannot be legally retailed and products which contain even miniscule amounts of substances deemed imperfect by law must carry a caution label, thus impairing their luster. In a nutshell, these prohibitions hamper an enterprises’ ability to be entirely competitive in the market and often have drastic cost implications.

   

In conclusion, it is pertinent to restate the importance of ensuring good standards of safety in matters pertaining to food retail. It is also equally essential to take into consideration the sheer authority and leeway that governmental bodies possess in administering these laws, as well as the resulting implications that they may have on consumers and retailers alike, either economically or otherwise. In retrospect, these issues have always been highly sensitive and policy makes involved in their formulation need to be all-inclusive and exercise a great deal of good judgment.  

End Notes

1. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/331 - 21 USC § 331 - Prohibited acts
2. "Section 8: The Congress shall have power to ... regulate commerce ... among the ...states"
3. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services
4. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
5. Agency History -- provides an excellent overview, including an overview of the agency's current philosophy. Responsible for administering the laws and regulations associated with meat, poultry and eggs
6. FSIS Fact Sheets on a range of topics
7. Another Relevant Agency (Not stated or cited anywhere in the paper) - "The mission of [Centers for Disease Control] CDC's Food Safety Office is to lead CDC's food safety programs to prevent illness, disability and death due to domestic and imported foodborne diseases. We collaborate with and support other CDC organizations with focus on attainment of food safety program plans, goals and objectives. We work in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state and local health departments, and other public and private organizations to strengthen regulations and policies for prevention of foodborne diseases."  Taken from CDC's Food Safety Office