@Risk

Do business interests interfere with the work of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees who are involved with food safety?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is too often “yes,” according to new research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

In survey results released earlier this month, the UCS revealed that hundreds of FDA and USDA employees feel undue corporate influence is a major problem affecting the nation’s food safety. Among more than 1,700 respondents who took part in the survey, (more…)

Federal officials now estimate that as many as half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs have been circulating in the US food supply over the past few months. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been sickened with salmonella linked to the contaminated eggs, prompting three recalls over the past two weeks –the third was issued last Friday.

A small handful of egg farms in Iowa appear to be at the center of the outbreak. Two of these farms are operated by Hillandale Farms of Iowa, one of the largest egg companies in the US; Wright County Egg Farm operates the other five. These farms share several common suppliers, including those for chicks and feed. According to the AP, this supplier has a history of violations and controversy. (more…)

A voluntary system to trace livestock movement across state lines has fallen short of expectations, and so the US Department of Agriculture is drafting more stringent regulations.

Federal officials are working on a new system that involves mandatory regulations because they want to make it easier to track diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis in livestock.  According to an article in The Billings Gazette, more than 19 million of the nation’s 30 million beef cows and 9 million dairy cows crossed state lines in 2009. But, data from 2006 and 2007 show that only about one quarter (28 percent) of the nation’s adult cattle had any form of official identification that would allow them to be tracked.

Although this animal disease traceability system is focused on animal health, it can also help promote a safe, healthy food supply. For example, a USDA fact sheet says that: (more…)

Margaret Hamburg, the Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, is visiting China for the first time since she was appointed, and I was pleased to hear that in her remarks last Friday she said that China is working towards improving its oversight of exporters.

According to an AP article, Hamburg said that Chinese officials she spoke with were pursuing a “common agenda” to improve manufacturing practices and regulation of complex supply chains for the food and drug industries. In addition, she reported feeling “very encouraged by the partnership” developing between China and the US. (more…)

Contaminants in the China supply chain are making headlines again.

Earlier this month, federal marshals seized 64 drums of imported bee’s honey from a Philadelphia distribution center because FDA testing of the honey showed that it contained the potent antibiotic chloramphenicol. In the United States, chloramphenical is not approved for use in food, animal feed, or food-producing animals. (more…)