Risks of tainted food rise as inspections drop

The United States last year imported about $10 billion more in food, feed and beverages than it exported, according to Census figures. Even as imports grow in volume and diversity, the number of FDA inspections is shrinking: agency inspectors physically examined just 1.3 percent of food imports last year, about three-quarters as much as in 2003.

The FDA, meanwhile, says it is concentrating its efforts on areas where the potential threat to the public’s health is greatest.

“We’re applying resources to targeted areas. So in a way, it’s not a matter of ’Are you inspecting one out of 100 or 10 out of 100?’ The real issue is if you can define risk. Are you applying the 10 inspectors to the 10 areas of concern? Then it’s essentially you’re covering 100 percent of your problem, which is not covering 100 percent of the universe,” FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said.

FDA inspectors, for example, visited the ConAgra plant on Feb. 14, a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the agency it suspected the company’s peanut butter was the source of the outbreak.

Reacting rather than preventing
For one member of Congress, that’s not good enough.

“We are reacting to crises rather than preventing or minimizing them,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees the FDA and its budget. DeLauro said she worried food inspections were becoming a “stepchild” of the regulatory agency.

Von Eschenbach said the agency’s food safety system can be reactive but is aggressive nonetheless.

“What you saw with the spinach and certainly what you saw with the peanut butter, is when we see those signals we’re going to act to protect the public health,” von Eschenbach said.

In the meantime, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is investigating the adequacy of the FDA’s efforts to protect the nation’s food supply, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said.

A recent Government Accountability Office report noted that most of the $1.7 billion the federal government allocates to food safety goes to the Agriculture Department, which is responsible for regulating about 20 percent of the food supply. The FDA, responsible for most of the other 80 percent, gets about 24 percent of the total.

When the FDA finds violations with a food product, it asks companies to voluntarily fix any problems. The agency also can request a company to recall a product or it can ask that a product be seized by law enforcement.

The Agriculture Department said this month it also would switch to a “risk-based” inspection plan for plants that process poultry, pork and beef. Plants that make products with a high risk for contamination, like hamburger, and that have had past violations would face greater scrutiny. Others than make less risky products, like cooked, canned ham, and have clean records would be inspected less.

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