On her site Food Politics, Marion Nestle linked to two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that illustrate the need for a more robust FDA. These two reports shine a bit of light on how the FDA Modernization Act could make the FDA a more robust organization in terms of food safety.
According to the GAO, Nestle writes, the FDA needs to ask Congress for statutory authority to:
- Recall products identified as unsafe
- Require companies to demonstrate that food ingredients are safe before using them
- Require preventive controls (e.g. HACCP) by firms producing foods that have been associated with repeated instances of serious health problems or death.
Some of these powers are in the FDA Modernization bill.
The first GAO report, Food Safety: FDA Has Begun to Take Action to Address Weaknesses in Food Safety Research, but Gaps Remain (GAO-10-182R April 23, 2010), states
In 2007 the FDA Science Board, an advisory board to the agency, reported that science at FDA suffers from serious deficiencies. In addition, our prior reviews of FDA’s food safety programs have identified gaps in scientific information, limiting FDA’s ability to oversee food labeling, fresh produce, and dietary supplements. Further, as part of our recent review on the effectiveness of the strategic planning and management efforts of FDA, 67 percent of FDA managers reported, in response to a GAO survey, that updated scientific technologies or other tools would greatly help them to contribute to FDA’s goals and responsibilities; however, only 36 percent of managers reported that FDA was making great progress in keeping pace with scientific advances.
The second report, Food Safety: FDA Could Strengthen Oversight of Imported Food by Improving Enforcement and Seeking Additional Authorities, (GAO-10-699T May 6, 2010), states
Specifically, GAO previously reported that FDA currently lacks mandatory recall authority for companies that do not voluntarily recall food products identified as unsafe. Limitations in FDA’s food recall authorities heighten the risk that unsafe food will remain in the food supply. In addition, under current FDA regulations, companies may conclude a food ingredient is generally recognized as safe without FDA’s approval or knowledge.
The FDA Modernization ACT, if passed could close some of the scientific knowledge gaps currently found in FDA practices and grant it the authority it needs to strengthen its recall capabilities.
