Faulty Food Supply
America’s Faulty Food Supply System
The U.S. system of food safety is convoluted. The responsibility is divided up between 12 agencies – and none of the 12 are held completely accountable.
The big players on the federal food and drug safety scene are the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The FDA oversees all domestic and imported food sold in interstate commerce, including eggs, but not meat and poultry. The FDA is also charged with enforcing the food safety laws, reviewing food production plants, recalling unsafe products and educating consumers. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service oversees domestic and imported meat and poultry, as well as processed products containing meat and poultry, and processed egg products. Other agencies have food safety roles too, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cooperative Extension Service, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Customs Service and state and local governments. It’s not hard to see how such a fragmented system causes problems. Can it be remedied?
Some groups are pushing for a merger of agencies into one that’s responsible for all food safety, thereby eliminating inefficiencies of duplication. The Gov’t Accountability Office proposed the single agency idea a full 10 years ago. Since then, however, inspector jobs have been cut, funds diminshed and the number of large-scale outbreaks have increased.
Change, it seems, is sorely needed – and not the kind of “change” we’re seeing in gov’t now; POSITIVE, productive and cost effective change.
