The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets recognized the second World Food Safety Day taking place today, Sunday, June 7, 2020.  World Food Safety Day was created to draw attention and direct educational efforts to reducing the approximately 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses that occur annually across the globe.  From licensing businesses, conducting inspections, and testing food samples to collaborating with partners on innovative approaches to food safety, the Department of Agriculture and Markets’ staff works to maintain the safety of the food supply from producer to consumer.

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, "As we recognize the second annual World Food Safety Day, we are proud to share with consumers that the State has a strong team of inspectors and scientists that work hard to help keep New York’s food supply safe.  In addition to our daily work on farms, in retail food stores, food processing facilities, and in the lab, we also recently provided our farmers markets’ managers and our food innovators using shared kitchen spaces with new guidance to help them operate safely.”

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has a network of inspectors that inspect New York 's retail food establishments and food manufacturing plants, as well as a state-of-the art laboratory committed to protecting the health of New Yorkers through laboratory analysis, investigation and research.

Earlier this year, to advance the Department’s commitment to food safety, the Department issued food safety guidance for farmers’ markets and for shared-use kitchens. Both documents were created with input from stakeholders and to provide these operations with the food safety information and requirements necessary for selling and processing foods safely in New York State.  To learn more about the Department’s food safety efforts, visit https://agriculture.ny.gov/food-safety.

Additionally, the Department continued its outreach and education to all licensed food manufacturers and food distributors across the State on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).  The goal of the Department is to ensure the businesses impacted by these new federal food safety regulations understand the requirements. For more information on FMSA, visit here.

Food safety tips for consumers, including recommendations for proper food preparation and storage information, can be found on FDA's website at https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/food-safety-your-kitchen.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year in the U.S. alone, 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness. Additionally, CDC reports that food allergies are a growing food safety and public health concern that affect an estimated 4% to 6% of children in the U.S. Mislabeled food products, mostly due to undeclared allergens, is one of the leading causes by incident of recalls in the U.S.

About the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets ' Division of Food Safety and Inspection works to ensure that New York State 's human and animal food supplies are safe to consume. Staff are responsible for inspecting New York 's 35,000 food establishments across the State for issues that could lead to foodborne illness, such as those that involve the food source and condition, food processing and storage temperatures, sanitary practices, among others.

The Department’s dairy products specialists within the Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services conduct inspections of dairy processing plants for compliance with sanitation requirements and standards of identity. In addition, New York’s dairy farms are inspected by certified milk inspectors who watch for sanitary conditions on the farm.

Both divisions work closely with the Department 's Food Laboratory, whose scientists analyze and test over 20,000 samples and performed approximately 433,000 analytical tests on food and beverage products in 2019. Many of these tests resulted in Class 1, 2 or 3 food recalls.