Food safety: revising the statute

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that federal food safety laws and policies need to be revised. Congressional debate on proposed amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act has generated several different perspectives on how the food safety laws should be changed. Before a consensus can be reached, scientists, regulators, the food industry, and consumers will have to review such complex and controversial issues as the level of acceptable risk, the value of risk-benefit analysis, the proper role of independent scientific review, and the reliability of quantitative risk assessment.