FDA Fakes a Passing Grade

FDA Fakes a Passing Grade

Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

Press Release: Press Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter: The “Food Protection Plan: One Year Progress Summary” released today by the Food and Drug Administration is being touted by the agency as evidence of its improved performance on food safety.  But the last year’s headlines about massive recalls, dangerous imports, and large-scale outbreaks of foodborne illness tell a different story. 

The agency is trying to put a positive spin on its broken regulatory framework, lack of leadership, and inadequate resources by highlighting the slight progress made towards the objectives in their insufficient Food Protection Plan.  But these efforts are clearly not enough to protect consumers.  In just the last week, the agency was forced to disclose that domestically-produced infant formula was tainted with the industrial contaminant melamine, and to set an acceptable level for this contaminant – despite the fact that in October the agency said it was unable to establish any acceptable level for infants.  This follows months of delay by the agency in responding to imported products tainted with melamine and the agency’s bungled investigation of the nation’s largest-ever Salmonella outbreak this summer. 

In addition to the mounting evidence that FDA is not up to the job of ensuring the safety of the food supply, the agency is are reporting progress towards benchmarks that are not stringent enough.  Specifically, the agency lists as accomplishments several initiatives that will not improve food safety:

1.    The progress report illustrates the agency’s continued bias toward third-party certification rather than establishing a meaningful enforcement program based on inspection by FDA employees.  The agency’s continued emphasis on private third-party inspection and collaborating with industry is designed to replace the traditional role played by government inspectors.

2.    Rather than establish a policy banning imports from any foreign food establishment whose government’s food safety system cannot guarantee enforcement of U.S. food safety standards, FDA continues to rely on “outreach” and collaboration.  Simply opening foreign offices with a handful of staff with undefined roles and limited jurisdiction is not enough.  The agency must request from Congress the necessary resources to inspect foreign facilities that export to this country at least once a year.

3.    Instead of requesting from Congress the necessary resources to inspect all FDA-regulated food facilities at least once per year, the agency is continuing to devote time and effort to establishing a “risk-based” system for inspections, even though the data necessary to determine risk is not available.

4.    The report also continues the agency’s emphasis on “interventions” like irradiation to try to treat contamination after it has occurred.  Listing the approval of controversial technologies like irradiation for more foods such as spinach and lettuce to treat preventable contamination is far from an accomplishment.

5.    Another dubious activity listed as an accomplishment is the ongoing effort to weaken standards for the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.  The agency is working to remove the zero-tolerance standard for this pathogen in processed and ready-to-eat foods, a change that will put vulnerable populations like pregnant women at increased and unnecessary risk.

6.    The agency also failed to establish standards for egg safety, something it identified as a priority in November 2007 and has been working on since 1999. 

Perhaps more important than what is in this progress report is what is not.  Structural change is needed to deal with the challenges of protecting our food supply.  The food responsibilities of FDA should be removed and given to a new agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.  And within a new food safety agency, a specific division should be created that is focused on the safety of imports.  Major investment in the agency’s information technology system is needed so that it can more efficiently deal with food safety inspection and enforcement.  Until these changes are made, FDA will not be able to make enough progress to protect consumers from unsafe food.  

Food & Water Watch is a national consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.