FDA has announced a forthcoming meeting of the Risk Communication Advisory Committee.  This advisory committee provides advice and recommendations to the agency on a variety of regulatory issues. The meeting will be held on August 13, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and August 14, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Committee will discuss FDA’s external research on, and internal assessment of,  communications about food safety problems. This discussion will address research on consumer
knowledge of food recalls and plans for how to monitor communication effectiveness during the course of a recall. The goal of the discussion is to advise FDA on developing more effective communication strategies. The Committee will discuss FDA’s external research on, and internal assessment of, communications about food safety problems. This discussion will address research on consumer knowledge of food recalls and plans for how to monitor communication effectiveness during the course of a recall.

As background for this topic, the FDA directs the public to following sites:
• FDA Peanut Product website.

•2006 FDA/FSIS Food Safety Survey Top-line Report

•Rutgers University Food Recall Surveys – Consumer Responses to Food Recalls: 2008 National Survey Report
Public Response to the Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak of 2008
Public Response to the Contaminated Spinach Recall of 2006

Readers of MassTortDefense are well aware of the signifcant food recall issues, and subsequent litigation, in recent years.