Complain about a product or service

Food Safety Network "Porous" ... At Best

Congressional Testimony Blames Fragmented Responsibilities

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com Congressional Correspondent

February 8, 2007

Food Safety • At Least 2 Deaths Reported in Massive E.Coli Ground Beef Recall • Food Toxin Linked To Liver Cancer • Senate Urged To Pass Food Safety Modernization Act • Consumers Have Little Trust That Food They Buy is Safe and Healthy • Consumers Union Opposes USDA Proposal On Salad Safety • New Food Registry Enables Quick Reporting of Dangerous Products • Nothing Simple about Food Dating, Expiration Dates or 'Use-By' Dates • Feds Announce New Food Safety Strategies • House Passes Food Safety Bill • Feds Seize Kentucky Livestock Kept In "Filthy Conditions" • FDA Tries To Improve Egg Safety • Tainted Dry Milk Recall Continues To Grow • Salmonella Scare Prompts Dairy Recall • Most Consumers Lack Confidence In Food Safety, Survey Says • House Committee Unanimously Passes Food Safety Bill • Food Safety Bill Aired In House • House Committee Moves Forward On Food Safety Legislation • Illinois Meat Packer Recalls 95,898 Pounds Of Beef • Alfalfa Sprouts Linked to Salmonella • Food Safety Results Level Off • Sprouts Recalled Due To Possible Listeria • FDA Warns About Listeria in Salmon • Food Industry Accused of Big Tobacco's Bad Habits • FDA Closes Tortilla Plant • Surface Water May Be Source Of Salmonella • Key Senator Blasts FDA Over Food Safety > • FDA Rolls Out Food Safety Plan • Brits Get Treats, Yanks Get Tricks From Food Companies • Hartz Recalls Rawhide Chips After Possible Salmonella Contamination • Vermont Firm Recalls Possibly-Tainted Ground Beef • Beef Sent to Puerto Rico May Be Contaminated with E. coli • Technology Offers Revolution in Food Safety Testing • Chinese Gorillas Fall Ill as Melamine Scandal Widens • Alfalfa Sprouts Recalled in Salmonella Outbreak • CDC Gives "All Clear" On Salmonella Outbreak • One Death Reported in Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak • Feds Approve Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce • FDA Issues Warning About Frozen Seafood • Whole Foods Extends Beef Recall • Whole Foods Recalls Fresh Ground Beef • Six New E. coli Cases Reported In Massachusetts --- • More ...

The year 2006 saw two major E. coli outbreaks in the U.S. and a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report suggests food safety is one of the nation's high-risk areas.

Every year about 76 million people contract food-borne illnesses in the U.S., in which about 5,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

While E. coli outbreaks are dangerous, the report outlines the potential dangers, both microbial and terrorist-related, that lie in the nation's porous agriculture inspection system.

Although there have been no major outbreaks or agro-terrorist attacks yet, David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States said at a House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing today that agencies need to be proactive, rather than responsive to the problem.

The number one problem the report found in the nation's food inspection is the fragmentation of responsibilities.

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are responsible for the majority of food inspection, there are 13 other agencies that also share the responsibilities.

"The patchwork nature of the federal oversight of food safety calls into question whether the government can plan more strategically to inspect food production processes, identify and react more quickly to any outbreaks of contaminated food, and focus on achieving results to promote the safety and integrity of the nation's food supply," according to the GAO report.

The report also questions whether the current patchwork is financially efficient. The GAO uncovered the complicated, subtle differences that separate the tasks of one agency from another. For example, the USDA is responsible for inspecting packaged meat sandwiches with one slice of bread while the FDA inspects sandwiches with two or more slices.

The report found many instances of overlapping duties, wasting taxpayer dollars.

While some duties were overlapped, others were nearly overlooked. For example, the report notes that 80 percent of seafood is imported but one percent is inspected.

While neither the report nor Walker would suggest dissolving the 15 agencies' duties into one, he did say, "There's no doubt in my mind that we need to streamline. We need to consolidate what we have right now."

The bipartisan attendance at today's Agriculture Subcommittee meeting seemed to embrace the report with open arms, but any legislative action, which would possibly require massive changes, is likely a long ways off.

Recalls Ineffective

But one simple way to begin mending the bungled system is to give the FDA and USDA greater recall powers and to improve the effectiveness of recalls, Walker suggested.

Currently, the FDA and USDA have no power to recall, with the exception of infant formula.

All recalls are voluntary and both agencies have no data on the effectiveness of recalls or whether all the stores and supply chains involved even find out about recalls. This problem was highlighted with the E.coli spinach outbreak where stores across the nation were still selling spinach, leaving the consumer responsible for knowing about the dangers.

Walker estimated that only 10 percent of a recalled food product is actually pulled off shelves.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.