The Hartford Courant newspaper is based in Hartford, Conn.
By HARTFORD COURANT
The Associated Press
Poisonings from contaminated California spinach and tainted ingredients in pet and commercial animal feed imported from China dramatically illustrate the flaws in our system of food safety. These flaws have been tolerated for far too long, and they demand a broader, better fix than the one recently prescribed by the Bush administration.
Every year, about 76 million Americans come down with a food-borne illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those cases, 325,000 wind up in hospitals and about 5,000 people die.
The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for safeguarding 80 percent of the food supply—fresh fruits, vegetables, bulk ingredients and many grocery items. Much of the rest (meat, poultry and egg products) is overseen by the Department of Agriculture. Yet a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative agency, identifies no fewer than 15 federal agencies that have a hand in administering some 30 laws on food safety. The result is a fragmented food-safety system that's inconsistent, poorly coordinated and inefficient.
It's also toothless. Swamped in recent years by a surge in food processors and imports, the FDA has come to rely on producers to police themselves. Of the imported foods that fall within the agency's jurisdiction, only 1 percent get inspected. Nor does the FDA have authority to require China or any other foreign producer to abide by U.S. food-safety standards.
Even if the food is tainted, the FDA can't order a recall (infant formula being the lone exception). And when a company volunteers to pull a product from the shelves, regulators have no way of knowing how promptly or thoroughly the recall was done.
These are glaring inadequacies. Yet the Bush administration's response to recent events has been to appoint a food-safety czar to the FDA and promise "a visionary strategy for food safety and defense."
But vision about the system's flaws has been clear for some time now.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., have co-sponsored legislation that would give the FDA power to order recalls of contaminated or dangerous foods.
Their bill also directs the agency to set up a program for inspecting and certifying foreign producers. Foods that don't meet federal standards for health and safety could be banned; the producers could be decertified.
The legislation would also require companies to keep records and to turn them over to the federal agency investigating problems with the food supply.
Finally, Americans deserve a comprehensive, systematic reform of the way the FDA, the USDA and other federal agencies are protecting food safety. The goal should be a system of regulation that is effective, efficient and equal to the task.
