WASHINGTON —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
That assertion by consumer advocates, regulatory officials, food processors, lawyers and trade association representatives was supported by a federal study that was leaked to The New York Times a few days later. The Government Accounting Office observed in the report that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would need 1,900 years under its current budget and set-up to inspect all 190,000 of the foreign plants whose output is now being shipped into the country. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
At the “Food Safety: Problems & Solutions” conference here late last month, an FDA official said imported food sources had actually swelled to a count of 800,000, and a colleague indicated they were dispersed through 433 countries. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
The FDA officials acknowledged that the agency is ham-strung in its food safety role by funding and communications issues. “Funding is a critical issue at FDA, and we have been looking for an increase in funding for [fiscal 2009],” said Tevi Troy, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, referring to the federal fiscal year that begins in October. “You can’t solve the problem without resources.” —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
The FDA is part of HHS. Other participants expressed far more alarm about the situation. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
“The FDA regions are starved,” said James O’Reilly, a law professor at the University of Cincinnati and a counsel with the law firm Baker & Daniels. “They do not have the resources to step up and do what they need to do.” —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
“The agency is so critically short-funded right now that it can’t meet its mission,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest consumer advocacy group. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
But that mission is growing in complexity and scope as the number of food imports, and ready-to-eat items in particular, continues to surge. More than 60 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States were grown outside its borders, and 70 percent of the nation’s seafood was shipped here from other places, said Steve Steingart, assistant chief of the food safety program for Allegheny County, Pa., and president of the Association of Food and Drug Officials. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
During the conference, Craig Henry, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs and chief operating officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, showed a picture of a chicken cordon bleu, a relatively simple entrée consisting of chicken, cheese, ham and bread crumbs. That single dish incorporated ingredients from more than 10 nations, Henry said, stressing that imports are more integral to the U.S. food supply than many people realize. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
“And yet the federal agencies and the state and local agencies don’t have the resources” to safeguard that growing component of the nation’s food, Henry said. “The mandates far exceed the resources. We’ve gotta have the adequate funding. I can’t say that enough, and I’m not talking about pocket change.” —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
Henry’s employer, an association of packaged-goods manufacturers, is part of an ad hoc advocacy group called the Alliance for a Stronger FDA. That body has recommended that the FDA’s budget be bumped up by $470 million over a five-year period, “which would basically double” the organization’s funding, Henry said, though he and others asserted during the conference that the sum may still be too low. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
“A billion dollars is a good, round number,” he mused aloud. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
David Lazarus, a legislative assistant to Sen. Richard Durbin, said the Senate Agriculture Committee had added $60 million to the White House’s requested budget for the FDA. The Illinois Democrat serves on that committee. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
But it’s not just the FDA that’s strapped, stressed the AFDO’s Steingart, who noted that departments like the one he manages in Pennsylvania often do the grass-roots work of inspecting restaurants, factories and points of entry for imports. His agency, too, is saddled with “limited resources to provide the kind of oversight you’d like,” Steingart said. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
He noted that the starting salary for a sanitation inspector, an individual who needs considerable specialized knowledge and resolve to do the job, is $29,000 a year. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
If the government fails to spend the dollars needed to safeguard food imports, several presenters warned, consumers can expect catastrophes like last year’s recalls of contaminated pet food and children’s toys from China. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
“We have asked Congress to treat the pet food incident as a wake-up call,” said the CSPI’s DeWaal. “[It] demonstrates the system is not working.” —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
Six days after the conference, 12 tons of heat-and-eat dumplings from China were recalled by Japanese health authorities after 10 people fell ill. The dumplings were suspected of being contaminated with insecticides. News reports did not say if the brand of dumpling was also sold in the United States. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”
The conference was presented by the Food and Drug Law Institute, a nonprofit organization for individuals involved in the legal, regulatory and policy-setting aspects of food and drug safety. It was co-hosted by the administrative law and agency practice section of the District of Columbia Bar. —The exponential growth in imports is exposing the nation’s food supply to dire safety risks, but government watchdogs lack the resources to react accordingly, warned a gathering here of self-professed “stakeholders.”