Issue View | Council III | 2023 Biennial Meeting

This is a brand new Issue.

Commercial Space Travel and Food Safety

Creation of a Commercial Space Food Safety Committee

Space missions as defined by space station, lunar mission(s), asteroid mission(s), Mars mission(s) and or other off-Earth missions require food safety for astronauts. Private space missions (commercial flying) are increasing but there are no defined criteria for food safety for these private missions.

This topic is an Issue because we have no evidence that the food is being held to standard. We know that food for Government program astronauts must meet high standards, we don't know if commercial space food must meet those same standards.

Not all food is created equal and not all food can go into space. The commercialization of flights cross that barrier affecting both food that travels into space and is consumed during or after the event.

Various newspaper articles depict commercial space travel food consumption, cold pizza and lamb. See attached PDF documents for reference: Daily Breeze Article, Axiom Article, 2 Million Dollar Bacon Sando article, and Kimchi Article New York Times. It should also be noted that foods like kimchi and a bacon sandwich, were specially developed to fly in space. This took years of research and millions of dollars to achieve. NASA currently has 250 food items that have been approved for space travel; the question still lies within, for commercial space travel, there are no known standards that would protect consumed food - Was it cooled correctly, held at a safe temperature, transported safely, stored correctly, served correctly, disposed of properly/off gassing/crumbs?

In addition, the after travel/space port celebrations: there may be the desire to celebrate with an after-flight toast. Such situations also create circumstances where short duration weightlessness is experienced. If a person experiences nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea, it may not be known if these symptoms are due to weightlessness or a foodborne illness event. There should be standards in place to provide protection for the individuals experiencing the post-flight celebration where alcoholic beverages and food are involved.

Because commercial space companies are already seeking food provisions for their missions, it is important to address commercial space food safety. And to investigate whether or not regulations and policy should be found needed in the protection of people participating in commercial space program missions.

NASA currently has standards which include four areas of food safety: packaging/containerization, facility design, cleaning, and food engineering/testing; however these standards do not apply to commercial space travel. Since NASA guidelines do not address commercial space travel food safety, this gap needs to be addressed.

That a special committee be formed to explore commercial space food safety. This should be done in order to have a more robust conversation about this Issue. The Committee should be charged with:

1. Research and investigate current standards for food safety for commercial space travel;

2. Recommending to the FDA that it considers adding commercial space food providers as part of the definition for FOOD ESABLISHMENT;

3. Drafting standards for food safety and commercial space travel that meet or exceed NASA standards for food safety;

4. Standards should address food handling practices, holding temperatures, cooling parameters, sanitary storage of food, and other associated requirements;

5. Review and update standards as research informs additional needs; and

6. Report back to the Conference in 2025 with recommendations.