[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