@Risk

The editorial “Say No to Raw Cookie Dough,” in Monday’s New York Times, urges Congress to act quickly and approve a bill that would strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s powers, giving them both more money and more authority, including new clout to recall products and more easily review food safety records or consumer complaints. But –after the string of recent problems with tainted tomatoes, peanuts, pistachios, pot pies, beef, and now cookie dough –will the infusion of power and more than $1B contained in the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 be enough to overcome consumer skepticism?

No way.

Food manufacturers and retailers are going to have to do much more. They have to increase visibility and accountability in their processes and supply chains –and they have to do so in a very public way. Take a look at the results of IBM’s new food safety survey, and you’ll realize that, if they want to stay in business, these companies really have no other choice.

According to the survey,  more than 80% of consumers no longer trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy. What’s more, 60% of consumers are concerned about the safety of the safety of food they purchase, and 63% say they are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy. 83% of survey respondents were able to name a food product that was recalled in the past two years due to contamination or other safety concerns, and nearly half (49%) said they would be less likely to purchase a food product again of it was recalled due to contamination. 63% of consumers in the survey confirmed they would not buy the food until the source of contamination had been found and addressed, while 8% said they would never purchase the food again, even after the source of contamination was found and addressed.

Survey results like these make it clear that food manufacturers need to implement comprehensive supplier performance and risk management systems now –before yet another problem arises — in order to begin to rebuild consumer confidence.

Speaking of problems, here’s an update regarding the  Nestle Toll House cookie dough recall. On June 29, the FDA announced that it found E. coli O157 in a sample of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough currently under recall by the manufacturer and marketer, Nestlé USA.  The contaminated sample was collected at Nestlé’s facility in Danville, Va. on June 25. Still no word, though, on the root cause of the contamination. Apparently, the investigation –and the mystery as to how E. coli 0157 found its way into cookie dough — continues. The CDC reports that 72 people in 30 U.S. states have been associated with this outbreak. Of these, 34 people have been hospitalized, and 10 have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS, a kidney disease); none have died.