It’s going to be heartbreaking, frankly, to some of these business owners.

Chris Hurn

chief executive of Fountainhead Commercial Capital

The new administration in Washington has yet to name an Under Secretary for Food Safety, but it has named a “power player” as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. She can take office immediately as Senate confirmation is not required for the USDA job.

Named in the secondary role at USDA’s Office for Food Safety (OFS) is Sandra Eskin, (above) long known as the food safety project director for The Pew Charitable Trusts. In that role, Eskin was known for bringing diverse parties together to work on common solutions for food safety challenges.

She’s led Pew’s work on food safety in the charitable trust’s campaign to reduce health risks from foodborne pathogens by working with the federal government, industry and other stakeholders to improve food safety.

Until the president nominates and the U.S. Senate confirms a USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, Eskin will head the OFS, which is charged with carrying out the Biden Administration’s food safety priorities.

Although multiple deputies have served in the past, it’s likely Eskin will replace former Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator Paul Kiecker, who was “acting deputy” during the transition.

Working closely with stakeholders and food safety partners across government, the OFS provides leadership and vision for its sole agency, the FSIS, to ensure that the nation’s supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome and properly labeled.

Before joining Pew, she was a public policy consultant to consumer and public interest organizations, providing strategic and policy advice on a range of consumer protection issues, including food safety, dietary supplement safety, and food and drug labeling and advertising

Eskin also was a federal government staff attorney, legislative representative for the Consumer Federation of America, deputy director of the Produce Safety Project — a Pew initiative at Georgetown University — and has served on numerous federal advisory committees.

Eskin received her bachelor’s degree in classics and semiotics from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

She frequently comments on food safety issues. Food Safety News has collected several examples of her written opinions that were offered during the past year, including:

• The Food and Drug Administration’s decision late last year not to order a mandatory recall of yellowfin tuna that sickened at least 50 people in 11 states threatens to undermine a crucial tool of last resort to protect consumers from hazardous food. FDA leaders should reverse course and require that the company responsible for these products remove them from the market.
• Foodborne Salmonella causes more than 1 million illnesses a year in the United States and is showing no sign of declining. With chicken, the most consumed meat in the U.S. and a significant source of these infections, strategies to reduce Salmonella contamination along the entire poultry production chain could reduce the impact of this disease. No vaccines exist to fend off Salmonella infections in humans, but vaccination programs for chickens and turkeys — combined with other on-farm interventions — have helped significantly reduce contamination from some of the many varieties, or serotypes, that make people sick. This progress is encouraging.
• Effective efforts to prevent foodborne illnesses require expanded and improved collaboration throughout the food safety system to ensure that emerging pathogens can be spotted and addressed as early as possible. Increased coordination among industry and public sector stakeholders, along with dissemination of identifying information and other surveillance data that can provide critical warnings, is crucial to enhancing the United States’ response to new or growing food safety risks. Without such steps, Americans’ food supply will remain unacceptably vulnerable to contamination by new strains of bacteria and other pathogens.

• The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a blueprint on July 13 for its plans to improve food safety over the next decade amid a host of challenges, among them recurring disease outbreaks linked to leafy greens and changes in the ways that food reaches consumers. Titled “New Era of Smarter Food Safety,” the document emphasizes the central role of root cause analysis (RCA) in developing stronger systems to reduce contamination and human illness.

• Dangerous E. coli bacteria that caused three foodborne illness outbreaks in late 2019 most likely came from cattle that grazed near fields of romaine lettuce or leafy greens, according to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration report. FDA’s findings make clear that growers, ranchers, and local, state, and federal agencies must work together to prevent contamination of leafy greens by pathogens commonly present in animal fecal matter. This food safety problem cannot be solved by a single industry or regulatory authority.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack expressed his support, saying “Sandra’s deep experience in food safety will strengthen USDA’s dedication to ensuring a safe, secure food supply for consumers and help to protect the safety of federal meat inspectors and workers throughout the food chain.”

The National Restaurant Association on Monday issued a letter to congressional leadership urging them to pass a new federal relief bill by the end of the year, bolstered by a state-by-state survey of more than 6,000 restaurant operators and 250 supply chain businesses from across the country.

According to the association’s “COVID-19 Restaurant Impact Survey” conducted in November, 52 percent of Georgia restaurant owners and food business operators expect sales to continue decreasing over the next quarter. As business conditions deteriorate, total labor costs higher than prior to the health crisis, and cold weather making outdoor dining less feasible, 27 percent of owners say they are now considering temporarily closing their restaurant until the pandemic ends. Nearly 40 percent of Georgia restaurant owners don’t expect their business to survive another six months without federal aid coming from Congress soon.

Like so many small business owners reeling from the financial crisis caused by the pandemic, Manuel’s Tavern owner Brian Maloof counted on another round of stimulus money this fall. With business down an average 62 percent and the bar losing around $25,000 per month since April, Maloof told Saporta Report recently it was likely he would close the bar permanently by the end of December. To put it into perspective, a typical December sees Manuel’s generating $310,000 in sales during the holidays. Maloof expects that figure to total just $75,000 this year.

The Atlanta City Council on Monday unanimously approved an ordinance permitting restaurants and bars to offer seating on city streets to “provide safe, socially distant outdoor dining spaces” during the pandemic.

According to the ordinance, street seating must be located in front of or adjacent to a restaurant or bar and cannot exceed more than 50 percent of the total seating capacity for the establishment. Restaurants and bars can offer on-street dining Sunday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. Atlanta already allows dining on city sidewalks with a permit.

Restaurants and bars submit an application, along with a site plan that includes furniture placement, to the Atlanta Department of Transportation for approval. The on-street dining permit is good through the end of 2021. For now, ATLDOT plans to waive the permit fee.

Minibar Delivery service begins statewide shipping and home delivery of beer, wine, and liquor from Atlanta-area shops next week. A representative for Minibar Delivery says deliveries from the Juice Box in Marietta, Grant Park Market, Candler Park Market, and the Buckhead and Doraville locations of Tower Beer Wine and Spirits should begin Monday, December 14.

Home delivery of alcohol from Georgia gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, brewpubs, wine shops, and package stores became legal in August, when Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 879 into law. Shops like Hop City Craft Beer and Wine, Perrine’s Wine Shop, 3 Parks Wine Shop, Elemental Spirits, and Beer Girl, Growlers and Bottleshop were early adopters of home delivery in Atlanta. Some businesses use third party delivery services, such as Minibar Delivery or UberEats, while others provide delivery as an in-house service.

“We plan to continue to onboard new store partners and increase our on-demand delivery coverage across the Atlanta area and beyond,” the representative for Minibar Delivery says. “Residents outside of the Atlanta area will be able to get wine and liquor shipped within 3-5 days with statewide shipping.”

As with other third party delivery services, people use Minibar Delivery to order beer, wine, and liquor online or via the mobile app from participating shops. An order for home delivery typically takes between 30 to 60 minutes to arrive. People can also schedule deliveries for specific times or set up a weekly or monthly subscription service through Minibar Delivery.