Sec. 302. Public health assessment system

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The Secretary, acting in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with the Research Education and Economics mission area of the Department of Agriculture, shall— resolve data-sharing barriers, including those relating to the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–191; 110 Stat. 1936), to ensure access to the applicable data systems of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to the databases made available by a State; maintain an active surveillance system of food, food products, and epidemiological evidence submitted by States to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on a representative proportion of the population of the United States; assess the frequency and sources of human illness in the United States associated with the consumption of food; maintain a state-of-the-art DNA matching system and epidemiological system dedicated to foodborne illness identification, outbreaks, and containment; and have access to the surveillance data created via monitoring and statistical studies conducted as part of inspections carried out by or for the Secretary.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish guidelines for a sampling system under which the Secretary shall take and analyze samples of food— to assist the Secretary in carrying out this title; to assess the nature, frequency of occurrence, and quantities of contaminants in food; and to enforce this title and other food safety laws. The sampling system described in paragraph

(1)shall provide— statistically valid monitoring, including market-based studies, on the nature, frequency of occurrence, and quantities of contaminants in food available to consumers; and at the request of the Secretary, such other information, including analysis of monitoring and verification samples, as the Secretary determines may be useful and appropriate in assessing the occurrence of contaminants in food. Through the surveillance system referred to in subsection

(a)and the sampling system described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall work in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, and other appropriate Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies— to rank food categories under the jurisdiction of the Secretary based on the hazard to human health presented by the food category; to identify appropriate industry and regulatory approaches to minimize hazards in the food supply; and to assess the public health environment for emerging diseases, including zoonosis, for their risk of appearance in the United States food supply. The analysis under subsection (b)(1) may include— a comparison of the safety of commercial processing with the health hazards associated with food that is harvested for recreational or subsistence purposes and prepared noncommercially; a comparison of the safety of food that is domestically processed with the health hazards associated with food that is processed outside the United States; a description of contamination originating from handling practices that occur prior to or after the sale of food to consumers; and use of comparative risk assessments.

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Pub. L. 104-191
110 Stat. 1936

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Sec. 302

Public health assessment system

Pub. L.Pub. L. 104-191

Stat.110 Stat. 1936

Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources