Fine Cheese & Charcuterie June 2016

Time To Re-think Our Food Safety Standards 

As I waved goodbye to Europe again before boarding a plane back to the United States, I couldn’t
help but feel a sense of loss. I did my best to eat as much as I could of salumi, hams and cheeses that I will not be able to buy once I returned home. After touring numerous food production plants in many countries, I sometimes wonder why the Food and Drug Administration rules and regulations prohibit these products from coming to our shores. 

It hit me as we toured the Piacenti Salume production facility in Tuscany (full feature to appear in
an upcoming issue) and got to view through glass windows a completely sealed room where they prepared their hams, prosciutto and salumi for shipment, which is a necessity for receiving FDA approval to sell the products in our country. This was in contrast to standing next to an artisan at the same plant as he neatly tucks the bay leaf and rubs on spices over beautiful hams, preparing them to be slowly cooked in ovens as they have traditionally done since long before potentially safer practices may have been invented. 

It begs the question in my mind that when modern practices meet traditional methods, is something lost in the translation? Something that doesn’t further advance the safety of our food, but does affect some special attribute of the finished product. I am grateful that we do guard our food supply so care- fully and avoid the problems that exist in countries such as China. But too much of a good thing sometimes isn’t always all good. There is a happy medium, that I wonder if we have exceeded in our country, robbing us of the opportunity to experience many great foods that have been consumed everywhere else in the world without adverse health affects for centuries. 

I hope in my lifetime someone urges the FDA to take a close look at the standards that they have set forth and to make sure that the rules are appropriate for the food they govern. As I hear manufacturers explain their difficulties in conforming to our standards, I get the impression that some of these standards do not t the situation, and curb the trade of perfectly safe and special foods. 

I am by no means an expert on this subject, but perhaps the rules in place were developed to guard against a particular danger that isn’t inherent in all foods. Could we study the safety of each of the PDO food products, for instance, and classify each one that is safe for sale in our country regardless of actual production technique? Do we need more special rules for smaller categories of food products? I hope we are not depriving ourselves of truly exceptional and artisan created foods because of overprotective rules created with good intention without the benefit of oversight. 

David Spencer
Publisher, Gourmet Business 

President, HousewaresDirect, Inc. 

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com