Some Questions About the Politics of Food Safety

1.  Food Safety Policy. 

á         Why does food safety policy matter?

á         How do we see policy? 

á         Technical narratives tend to reduce opportunities for democratic participation in policymaking.  Are food safety issues generally conducted through technical narratives?

2.  Complexities of Food Safety Policies. 

á         Are most of us stuck with an industrialized food system?

á         What drives new developments in the business of food?

á         How have we organized the regulation of food safety?

á         Is there a consensus on what are the major food safety policy issues?

3. The Food Safety Act of 2010. 

á         Who was involved, and who was influential, in the crafting and passage of the recent Act?

á         Does passage of the Act suggest there are flaws in the prevailing picture of a polarized Congress, hopelessly deadlocked?

á         What are the important policy changes in the Act?

á         What are the significant hurdles to successful implementation of the Act? 

4. Science, Risk, and Institutions. 

á         Are there legal standards concerning science and risk in food safety policy?

á         How is food science funded and organized? 

á         What are court standards on science and risk with regards to food safety? 

á         Are FDA scientific resources adequate for the agencyÕs responsibilities?

á         Is a risk-based approach to food safety neutral with respect to political influence over policy?

5. Chemicals, Toxics, and the Power of the Unseen. 

á         How do chemicals and toxics enter the food supply? 

á         How thoroughly have we investigated likely hazardous substances in the food supply?

á         Do our laws about toxics and hazardous substances (TOSCA, FIFRA, etc.) discourage the study of likely dangerous substances? 

á         Will the EUÕs REACH system of chemical monitoring and testing affect existing US law?

6. Organizing for Food Safety.  

á         What do we know about how to organize for food safety?

á         How have comparable countries organized food safety policies?

á         How have food industry standards, like HACCP and Codex Alimentarius, affected policy debates over the structure of a food safety system?

á         Who is influential in food safety policy in the United States?