The FDA versus the USDA
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year 1,000 people die from food-borne hazards in the U.S. The pie chart on page 5 shows that more food-borne illness outbreaks fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA than the USDA during the period 1990-2006. According to the second pie chart on page 5, the USDA has higher budgetary expenditures than the FDA for food safety programs and inspections by a total of $323 million dollars. The FDA actually inspects food processing facilities once every ten years rather than once every year. A frozen cheese pizza is inspected by the FDA while a frozen pepperoni pizza is subjected to USDA inspection. One of the FDA’s biggest problems is that it is empowered by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to intervene only when food is found to be adulterated or misbranded. This is a problem because the FDA does not receive clear mandates from farm-to-table when it comes to food safety.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems are currently in place for seafood, juice, meat, and poultry products. HACCP helps prevent food contamination because it is a program of quality assurance and preventative process control. It is true that less than one percent of food imported into the U.S. is inspected. This percentage definitely needs to be increased because it leaves the U.S.’s food supply vulnerable to substandard foods from foreign countries. The August-September 2006 E-coli in bagged spinach outbreak was due to uncleanly processing facilities. The FDA does not have the power to order a producer to recall any food product found to be contaminated. Today recalls of contaminated food are voluntary.
Will the New Laws Help Increase Food Safety?
The mandatory produce and safety standards state that the new law will establish minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. The new law does establish a mandatory inspection frequency for food facilities. The new law also gives FDA authority to issue a mandatory recall if a company fails to implement a voluntary recall after being asked by FDA. Under the enhanced product tracing abilities, the FDA is directed to establish a system that will enhance ability to trace both domestic and imported foods. Under Importer Accountability, the FDA will explicitly place the responsibility on importers to verify that their foreign suppliers have adequate preventative controls in place to ensure that the food they produce is safe. I think these laws will cause a huge decrease in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses across the U.S. I think the most useful law enforcements are those that have to do with imports because our country does not take it seriously.
I completely agree with you that the U.S. needs to take the safety of imported food more seriously! It's kind of alarming that imported food isn't inspected because you just never know...
ReplyDeleteAnd on the chicken salmonella issue, I see people tossing chicken in their shopping carts all willy nilly all the time. I just want to stop the madness, but people don't usually appreciate a good food safety lesson while they're trying to pick up dinner and get on with their day so I don't. We need some sort of nationwide PSA to prevent outbreaks like the one in Washington.
Before reading the article I thought that the U.S. took food safety very seriously. It was surprising to see that the U.S. does not inspect imports so now as a consumer it leaves me wondering. If the U.S. can not ensure our safety from these foreign countries it maybe safe to say that we need to look more into state side production, which will also stimulate our economy.
ReplyDeleteThe chicken salmonella issue is serious as well. Many people do not handle raw meat properly which is a problem. Many people do not understand the importance of proper food handling. I agree with Marsha that people do need to be aware of the different microorganism that can cause illness. Being that most people will not sit in a class it may be reasonable to have a labeling system to help combat the issue. Producers can put a small label that shows how to handle raw meat and prevent a salmonella/food pathogen outbreak.
The fact that a company is not required to recall a food is very alarming. I hope that new laws get passed soon so I can stop worrying about there being dangerous microbes in my food.
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