USDA Implements New Food Safety Strategy [AUDIO]

The Fed is ramping up its efforts to track down food borne illnesses at their source.

A lot of this new strategy from the U-S Agriculture Department involves speed. They want to get to the crux of a food contamination problem quicker before it spreads.

Undersecretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen says they will begin their investigations before routine test results on suspected contaminated foods are confirmed. She says currently, their activities begin after a test result is confirmed or an outbreak occurs.

"Together, these measures will provide us with more tools to protect our food supply, resulting in stronger public health protections for consumers."

The U-S-D-A will implement new trace back methods designed to get to the source of the problem faster. They also want food plants to be ready to go with a food recall plan within a day or less of suspecting contamination has occurred.

In the past two years, The Agriculture Department's Food Safety Inspection Service, (FSIS), has announced several measures to safeguard the food supply, prevent food borne illness, and improve consumers' knowledge about the food they eat.