Preventing "Poisoned"

“You have to remember that prior to the outbreak, food safety was just a task that had to be part of the drill. At the executive level, the commitment to support food safety as a top priority was very low. This wasn’t just Jack in the Box. Everybody was like that.” David Theno, as quoted in Poisoned, by Jeff Benedict (Inspire Books, May 2011).

The book, as defined by the author, “is a behind-the-scenes account of the outbreak that introduced America to E. coli and opened our eyes to the fact that food safety can be a matter of life and death.”

Having received an advance media copy of the book, I read it with the full expectation that it would be another agenda-driven writing. Instead I found that, while its key focus is on attorney Bill Marler and the children who died or suffered from the E. coli poisoning, Benedict’s background as an investigative journalist comes through in his inclusion of both sides of the story. As a sort of backdrop to those of the families’ emotional and legal battles, Benedict flows a narrative of the decisions and decision-making processes of Jack in the Box executives, and the role of David Theno, who began as a consultant, but was soon hired as vice president of product safety for Jack in the Box to drive the outbreak response and reaction.

And it is from this viewpoint, as well as a full awareness of the potential of such an outbreak, that the book is recommended reading for all those involved in protecting our nation’s food supply. Although the outbreak occurred nearly 20 years ago, its lessons are particularly timely as the primary goals of the Food Safety Modernization Act, and the industry’s own self-policing, refocus initiatives toward prevention rather than the reaction that, for too long, has been a standard of the industry.

Prevention is the new buzzword of the food chain—evidenced even by the number of articles in this issue dealing with preventive action. But more, it is what will protect the consumer and the industry alike as we continue to focus on improving systems. As stated by FDA Commissioner Michael Taylor in his May 19 speech (News, page 6), because “our complex global food system [is] run by millions of fallible human beings, perfection is impossible.” Thus, he said, outbreak response will continue to be an integral part of the prevention system.

Media coverage of Poisoned and its author is still tending to focus on the negatives of the industry, but it is exactly the book’s lessons of sincere but human response of Jack in the Box executives in a time when “food safety was just a task that had to be part of the drill,” as well as those of reactive prevention and preventive reaction (as discussed by Roger Lawrence in From the Advisory Board, page 50) that will continue to drive food safety forward.

The author is Managing Editor of QA magazine. She can be reached at llupo@giemedia.com.

Just after visiting the Goetze’s Candy operation featured in this issue (page12), we learned of the passing of third-generation R. Melvin Goetze (May 17). We extend our condolences to the Goetze family and all who knew him. Tributes can be read and posted at www.legacy.com; search Randle or Melvin Goetze.