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Since 9/11, many resources formerly dedicated to food safety were shifted to food biosecurity. The intent of this shift was to install deterrents that would improve readiness within the agriculture and food sector. Bulk liquid receiving and loading, liquid storage and handling, secondary ingredient handling and mixing stand as the most vulnerable activities for a potential attack. Facilities responsible for these roles in the food production chain created a plan of action against potential threats.

But no system is one hundred percent foolproof, though rapid detection of an agroterrorism event can help minimize its impact. The anthrax incidents that occurred after 9/11, even though they did not attack the nation’s agriculture industry or food supply, demonstrated the need for improved pathogen and toxin detection capabilities. This would mean a networked system of laboratories where this detection can take place.

The FDA, through the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, now requires all food plants to register with them, that imported food shipments give prior notice, and that better records be kept by food processors and handlers. The FSMA of 2011 created a food defense plan including training, actionable processing steps, focused mitigation strategies, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and proper record keeping, each of which protects against food adulteration through a system of checks and balances throughout a facility’s production process.

TRACKING FOOD

One reason why the FDA has requested extensive food safety plan information is so that food products will be more traceable and product recalls of foods will be more effective. A recalled product may be removed from the commerce stream at any point after it has left the distributor—while it is in transit, for sale at the retail level, or even after it has been purchased and is in the consumer’s home. Potentially contaminated products must be retrieved before they are consumed in order to limit the public health impact of contaminated food. Biosecurity audits within food processing, handling, and retailing facilities constitute an important approach to an overall anti-terrorism strategy. 

Preventing an Agroterrorism Attack

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