Environmental Public Health Division

Food Safety and Terrorism

The events of September 11 have led everyone to question the safety of their daily lives and routines.  The food industry has been impacted no less. Food safety, including protection from any kind of tampering, has always been a concern, but now has the added threat of possible terrorist acts of contamination.  State and local agencies have developed task forces devoted to the public health threat of bio-terrorism and have included food safety concerns in their strategic plans.  On a national level, the FDA has developed a food security guide, Guidance for Industry. This set of guidelines provides appropriate measures for all segments of the food industry to reduce the risk of food being subject to tampering or criminal or terrorist actions.   

The following list of FDA recommendations regarding retail food establishments should be part of an establishment's standard operating procedures for food and employee safety.  

1.       Security

a)      Assign responsibility for security to a qualified individual

b)      Encourage (remind) all staff to be alert to any signs of tampering with products or equipment

c)      Encourage (remind) staff to report any unusual situations

2.       Investigate suspicious activity

a)      Investigate all information relating to suspicious activity

b)      Notify local law enforcement about suspected criminal activity

3.       Hazardous chemicals (cleaning and sanitizing agents, pesticides)

a)      Secure storage areas for and limit access to hazardous chemicals

b)      Keep track of hazardous chemicals

c)      Investigate missing stock and notify local law enforcement about unresolved problems

4.       Visitors

a)      Restrict entry to food storage and food handling areas (part of the Texas Food Establishment Rules or TFER anyway!)

5.       Employees

a)      Supervise all employees, especially new employees

b)      Know daily work and shift assignments and where employees should be located

c)      Be alert for unusual behavior (staying unusually late/arriving unusually early for shift, accessing areas not in their line of work)

d)      Prevent employees from bringing personal items (purses, lunch containers) into food handling areas (also part of TFER)

e)      Develop policy for regular inspection of staff lockers

f)       Insure all employees have immediate access to internal company, fire, and police emergency phone numbers. 

While the above recommendations are common sense procedures, a review with your staff will help reassure your employees that you are making an effort to protect them and your business in these uncertain times.

 Food Defense Resources

Information on food defense:

• FDA information on Food Defense

• FDA Food Security Guidance for Industry