[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29768-29769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10289]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. 2004N-0516]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office
of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; 2005 Food Safety
Survey
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a
proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Fax written comments on the collection of information by June
23, 2005.
ADDRESSES: OMB is still experiencing significant delays in the regular
mail, including first class and express mail, and messenger deliveries
are not being accepted. To ensure that comments on the information
collection are received, OMB recommends that written comments be faxed
to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: Fumie
Yokota, Desk Officer for FDA, FAX: 202-395-6974.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Robbins, Office of Management
Programs (HFA-250), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane,
Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-1223.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has
submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for
review and clearance.
2005 Food Safety Survey
Under section 903(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(21 U.S.C. 393(b)(2)), FDA is authorized to conduct research relating
to foods and to conduct educational and public information programs
relating to the safety of the Nation's food supply. FDA is planning to
conduct a consumer survey about food safety under this authority. The
food safety survey will provide information about consumers' food
safety awareness, knowledge, concerns, and practices. A nationally
representative sample of 4,000 adults in households with telephones
will be selected at random and interviewed by telephone. This survey
will include an oversample of Hispanics with a minimum of 500 Hispanics
sampled. Additionally, 200 initial nonrespondents will be asked to
participate in a short version of the survey to conduct a nonresponse
analysis. Participation will be voluntary. Detailed information will be
obtained about food safety risk perception, perceived sources of food
contamination, knowledge of particular microorganisms, food handling
practices, consumption of raw foods from animals, and perceived
foodborne illness and food allergy experience.
The majority of the questions to be asked are identical to ones
asked in the 2001 Food Safety Survey (the 2001 survey). Because of
recent national consumer education campaigns about food safety and the
large amount of media attention to food safety issues in the past few
years, consumer attitudes, knowledge, and practices are likely to have
changed greatly since the 2001 survey. FDA needs current information to
support consumer education programs and regulatory development.
Additionally, this data will be used to measure changes in food safety
handling practices and food allergy reactions as part of the Healthy
People 2010 food safety objectives and allergen goals. New areas on the
survey include awareness of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and
acrylamide, refrigeration practices, and updated questions on washing
practices for fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the Federal Register of December 2, 2004 (69 FR 70147), FDA
published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information
collection provisions. Seven comments were received. Four comments did
not address the information collection provisions, two comments
supported the proposed collection of information, and one comment
contended that it is a waste of government funds. The supporting
comments requested that data from the survey be made more widely
available. None of the comments included any specific suggestions for
the questionnaire or survey methodology.
FDA disagrees that the food safety survey is a waste of government
funds. The data from the 2005 Food Safety Survey will be used to
evaluate the Healthy People 2010 objectives for food safety and for
allergens. Data from the 2001 survey served as the baseline for the
Healthy People 2010 food safety and allergen objectives. Results from
previous food safety surveys were also used by FDA's Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition to provide an assessment of the level of
safety of consumer food preparation and consumption practices, and
levels of
[[Page 29769]]
awareness, concern, and knowledge related to food safety.
FDA agrees that the data from the food safety survey should be
distributed publicly through peer review journal articles and though
government publications. It is anticipated that for the first 6 months
after collection, the data will be analyzed internally. After 6 months
a summary will be produced and made available to the public. Peer
reviewed journal articles are planned following the summary.
Table 1.--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden\1\
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No. of Annual Frequency Total Annual Hours per
Questionnaire Respondents per Response Responses Response Total Hours
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Pretest 27 1 27 0.5 14
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Screener 10,000 1 10,000 0.0167 167
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Survey 4,000 1 4,000 0.30 1,200
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Nonresponse 200 1 200 0.10 20
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Total 1,401
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
information.
The burden estimate is based on FDA's experience with the 2001
survey. Prior to the survey being fielded, a small pretest of 27
individuals (each pretest lasting half an hour) will be conducted. FDA
estimates that the survey will require an average of 20 minutes per
respondent and that the variation in burden across respondents will be
small, based on average interview times for the 2001 survey. The
proposed number of respondents is 4,000, each of whom will be asked to
complete a one-time telephone interview that requires no preparation
time. Additionally, 200 initial nonrespondents will be asked to
participate in a short version of the survey to conduct a nonresponse
analysis. The screener is estimated to take 1 minute or less per
response for a total screener burden of 4,000 respondents plus 6,000
ineligibles screened, taking an estimated 167 hours. The total hours
reporting burden to the public is the sum of the pretest, the screener,
the completed surveys, and the nonresponse surveys, resulting in an
estimated public reporting burden of 1,401 hours.
Dated: May 17, 2005.
Jeffrey Shuren,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-10289 Filed 5-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S