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Lax Inspections Pose Risk for Contamination of Imported Foods, Experts Say
Monday, April 16, 2007
WASHINGTON - Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and
other foods are inspected - yet those government inspections regularly
reveal food unfit for human consumption.
Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru,
blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the
Philippines - the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food
and Drug Administration stretches on.
Add to that the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten that poisoned cats and
dogs nationwide and led to a massive pet food recall, and you've got a real
international pickle. Does the United States have the wherewithal to ensure
the food it imports is safe?
Food safety experts say no.
With only a minuscule percentage of shipments inspected, they say the nation
is vulnerable to harm from abroad, where rules and regulations governing
food production are often more lax than they are at home.
"FDA doesn't have enough resources or control over this situation
presently," said Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center
for Food Safety, which works with industry to improve safety.
Last month alone, FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish,
vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues ranging
from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to
salmonella.
And that's with just 1.3 percent of the imports inspected. As for the other
98.7 percent, it's not inspected, much less detained, and goes to feed the
nation's growing appetite for imported foods.
Each year, the average American eats about 260 pounds of imported foods,
including processed, ready-to-eat products and single ingredients. Imports
account for about 13 percent of the annual diet.
"Never before in history have we had the sort of system that we have now,
meaning a globalization of the food supply," said Robert Brackett, director
of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
FDA inspections focus on foods known to be at risk for contamination,
including fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables. Food from countries or
producers previously shown to be problematic also are flagged for a closer
look.
Consider this list of Chinese products detained by the FDA just in the last
month: frozen catfish tainted with illegal veterinary drugs, fresh ginger
polluted with pesticides, melon seeds contaminated with a cancer-causing
toxin and filthy dried dates.
But even foods expected to be safe can harbor unexpected perils. Take wheat
gluten: Grains and grain byproducts like it are rarely eaten raw and
generally pose few health risks, since cooking kills bacteria and other
pathogens.
Even so, the FDA can't say for sure whether the ingredient used in the pet
foods was inspected after it arrived from China. And if the wheat gluten
was, officials said, it wouldn't have been tested for melamine. Even though
the chemical isn't allowed in food for pets or people, in any quantity, it
previously wasn't believed toxic.
How did the melamine wind up in the wheat gluten? Investigators still don't
know. Meanwhile, China is struggling to overhaul its food system and improve
safety standards, but still faces major hurdles.
Farmers use pesticides and chemical fertilizers to build produce yields and
antibiotics are used on seafood and livestock. Heavy metals also can be
introduced into the food chain by widespread industrial pollution.
Increasingly, those foods are sold in a now global marketplace.
While the European Union, Canada and Mexico still top the list of food
exporters to the U.S., China is coming up fast. Since 1997, the value of
Chinese food imports, including commodities like wheat gluten, has more than
tripled, to $2.1 billion from $644 million, according to Agriculture
Department statistics. It accounts for 3.3 percent of the total food the
U.S. buys abroad.
For suspect imported products - and wheat gluten is now one of them - the
FDA issues alerts to its inspectors. The FDA flags Chinese food and other
imported products it regulates, like cosmetics, for that extra scrutiny more
than any other country except Mexico.
To safeguard its export business, China is looking at separating foods by
their ultimate destination, domestic or foreign, according to Michiel
Keyzer, director of the Center for World Food Studies at Amsterdam's Vrije
Universiteit.
U.S. government statistics suggest China still has a way to go.
The FDA has been stopping Chinese food import shipments at the rate of about
200 per month this year. Shippers have the right to appeal the detentions,
after which the government can order products returned or destroyed.
How do you know the origin of the food you eat? The 2002 Farm Act called for
fish, fruit and vegetable imports to be labeled by country of origin, though
implementation for the latter two foods has been delayed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. imports more and more, though the increase in value is
partially due to the weaker dollar.
All told, the U.S. is expected to import a record $70 billion in
agricultural products for the 12 months ending in September, according to an
Agriculture Department forecast. The value of those imports will be about
double the nearly $36 billion purchased overseas in 1997.
Contributing to that growth are the fresh fruits and vegetables imported
during the offseason, when domestic production dwindles or ends.
About one-quarter of our fruit, both fresh and frozen, is imported. For tree
nuts, it's about half. And for fish and shellfish, more than two-thirds come
from overseas.
Even as the amount of imported food increased, the percentage of FDA
inspections declined - from 1.8 percent in 2003 to 1.3 percent this year to
an expected 1.1 percent next year.
"Inspections have a very important role but they're not the solution. They
are the verification," FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said.
The FDA and the USDA have adopted a "risk-based" inspection philosophy,
focusing on specific foods, sources or producers that they believe represent
the largest potential risk to the public's health.
"The public at large is not at any increased risk," said Craig Henry, senior
vice president and chief operating officer for scientific and regulatory
affairs of the Grocery Manufacturers-Food Products Association, an industry
group.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, an advocacy group, countered that "risk-based" is just
shorthand for "reduced resources."
"Whenever they say 'risk-based approach,' it often means they don't have
enough staff to actually do the job. They're doing triage. They're trying to
hit what's most important to inspect but they're missing a lot," DeWaal
said.
Groups lobbying to increase the FDA's budget say its spending on food safety
has languished, despite the agency's outsized role in ensuring the safety of
the nation's food supply.
A recent Government Accountability Office report noted that most of the $1.7
billion the federal government allocates to food safety goes to the USDA,
which is responsible for regulating about 20 percent of the food supply. The
FDA, responsible for most of the other 80 percent, gets about 24 percent of
the total spent on food safety.
Unlike the FDA, the USDA requires foreign inspection certificates to
accompany all products it regulates, which include meat and poultry. Those
imports are then reinspected at each port of entry before they are allowed
into this country - something that doesn't happen to all FDA-regulated
imports.
Under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, anyone importing food into the United
States is required to notify the FDA of the shipment before it arrives by
land, air or sea. That allows the FDA to intercept contaminated products
before they reach the marketplace, though agency officials acknowledge it
doesn't always work that way.
"We have better control than we did a few years ago but it is largely the
responsibility of the importer to make sure those products are safe," said
Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's top veterinarian.
ChemNutra Inc., the Las Vegas importer of the tainted wheat gluten, said it
was "particularly troubled" that its supplier did not disclose it contained
melamine.
Doyle, of the University of Georgia, warned the contaminated pet food could
be an unsavory taste of what's to come.
"This is not the first and will not be the last but it certainly is a wakeup
call for the public to get a better appreciation for where this country is
going with imports and imported foods," Doyle said.
Brackett, the FDA official, said the globalization of the food supply means
the agency is going to have to be more creative and strategic in ensuring
its safety. "I am not quite sure how we're going to do that yet," he said,
"except to know that that's the direction that we're going to be heading."
Lax Inspections Pose Risk for Contamination of Imported Foods, Experts Say
Monday, April 16, 2007
WASHINGTON - Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and
other foods are inspected - yet those government inspections regularly
reveal food unfit for human consumption.
Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru,
blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the
Philippines - the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food
and Drug Administration stretches on.
Add to that the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten that poisoned cats and
dogs nationwide and led to a massive pet food recall, and you've got a real
international pickle. Does the United States have the wherewithal to ensure
the food it imports is safe?
Food safety experts say no.
With only a minuscule percentage of shipments inspected, they say the nation
is vulnerable to harm from abroad, where rules and regulations governing
food production are often more lax than they are at home.
"FDA doesn't have enough resources or control over this situation
presently," said Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center
for Food Safety, which works with industry to improve safety.
Last month alone, FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish,
vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues ranging
from filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to
salmonella.
And that's with just 1.3 percent of the imports inspected. As for the other
98.7 percent, it's not inspected, much less detained, and goes to feed the
nation's growing appetite for imported foods.
Each year, the average American eats about 260 pounds of imported foods,
including processed, ready-to-eat products and single ingredients. Imports
account for about 13 percent of the annual diet.
"Never before in history have we had the sort of system that we have now,
meaning a globalization of the food supply," said Robert Brackett, director
of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
FDA inspections focus on foods known to be at risk for contamination,
including fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables. Food from countries or
producers previously shown to be problematic also are flagged for a closer
look.
Consider this list of Chinese products detained by the FDA just in the last
month: frozen catfish tainted with illegal veterinary drugs, fresh ginger
polluted with pesticides, melon seeds contaminated with a cancer-causing
toxin and filthy dried dates.
But even foods expected to be safe can harbor unexpected perils. Take wheat
gluten: Grains and grain byproducts like it are rarely eaten raw and
generally pose few health risks, since cooking kills bacteria and other
pathogens.
Even so, the FDA can't say for sure whether the ingredient used in the pet
foods was inspected after it arrived from China. And if the wheat gluten
was, officials said, it wouldn't have been tested for melamine. Even though
the chemical isn't allowed in food for pets or people, in any quantity, it
previously wasn't believed toxic.
How did the melamine wind up in the wheat gluten? Investigators still don't
know. Meanwhile, China is struggling to overhaul its food system and improve
safety standards, but still faces major hurdles.
Farmers use pesticides and chemical fertilizers to build produce yields and
antibiotics are used on seafood and livestock. Heavy metals also can be
introduced into the food chain by widespread industrial pollution.
Increasingly, those foods are sold in a now global marketplace.
While the European Union, Canada and Mexico still top the list of food
exporters to the U.S., China is coming up fast. Since 1997, the value of
Chinese food imports, including commodities like wheat gluten, has more than
tripled, to $2.1 billion from $644 million, according to Agriculture
Department statistics. It accounts for 3.3 percent of the total food the
U.S. buys abroad.
For suspect imported products - and wheat gluten is now one of them - the
FDA issues alerts to its inspectors. The FDA flags Chinese food and other
imported products it regulates, like cosmetics, for that extra scrutiny more
than any other country except Mexico.
To safeguard its export business, China is looking at separating foods by
their ultimate destination, domestic or foreign, according to Michiel
Keyzer, director of the Center for World Food Studies at Amsterdam's Vrije
Universiteit.
U.S. government statistics suggest China still has a way to go.
The FDA has been stopping Chinese food import shipments at the rate of about
200 per month this year. Shippers have the right to appeal the detentions,
after which the government can order products returned or destroyed.
How do you know the origin of the food you eat? The 2002 Farm Act called for
fish, fruit and vegetable imports to be labeled by country of origin, though
implementation for the latter two foods has been delayed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. imports more and more, though the increase in value is
partially due to the weaker dollar.
All told, the U.S. is expected to import a record $70 billion in
agricultural products for the 12 months ending in September, according to an
Agriculture Department forecast. The value of those imports will be about
double the nearly $36 billion purchased overseas in 1997.
Contributing to that growth are the fresh fruits and vegetables imported
during the offseason, when domestic production dwindles or ends.
About one-quarter of our fruit, both fresh and frozen, is imported. For tree
nuts, it's about half. And for fish and shellfish, more than two-thirds come
from overseas.
Even as the amount of imported food increased, the percentage of FDA
inspections declined - from 1.8 percent in 2003 to 1.3 percent this year to
an expected 1.1 percent next year.
"Inspections have a very important role but they're not the solution. They
are the verification," FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said.
The FDA and the USDA have adopted a "risk-based" inspection philosophy,
focusing on specific foods, sources or producers that they believe represent
the largest potential risk to the public's health.
"The public at large is not at any increased risk," said Craig Henry, senior
vice president and chief operating officer for scientific and regulatory
affairs of the Grocery Manufacturers-Food Products Association, an industry
group.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, an advocacy group, countered that "risk-based" is just
shorthand for "reduced resources."
"Whenever they say 'risk-based approach,' it often means they don't have
enough staff to actually do the job. They're doing triage. They're trying to
hit what's most important to inspect but they're missing a lot," DeWaal
said.
Groups lobbying to increase the FDA's budget say its spending on food safety
has languished, despite the agency's outsized role in ensuring the safety of
the nation's food supply.
A recent Government Accountability Office report noted that most of the $1.7
billion the federal government allocates to food safety goes to the USDA,
which is responsible for regulating about 20 percent of the food supply. The
FDA, responsible for most of the other 80 percent, gets about 24 percent of
the total spent on food safety.
Unlike the FDA, the USDA requires foreign inspection certificates to
accompany all products it regulates, which include meat and poultry. Those
imports are then reinspected at each port of entry before they are allowed
into this country - something that doesn't happen to all FDA-regulated
imports.
Under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, anyone importing food into the United
States is required to notify the FDA of the shipment before it arrives by
land, air or sea. That allows the FDA to intercept contaminated products
before they reach the marketplace, though agency officials acknowledge it
doesn't always work that way.
"We have better control than we did a few years ago but it is largely the
responsibility of the importer to make sure those products are safe," said
Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's top veterinarian.
ChemNutra Inc., the Las Vegas importer of the tainted wheat gluten, said it
was "particularly troubled" that its supplier did not disclose it contained
melamine.
Doyle, of the University of Georgia, warned the contaminated pet food could
be an unsavory taste of what's to come.
"This is not the first and will not be the last but it certainly is a wakeup
call for the public to get a better appreciation for where this country is
going with imports and imported foods," Doyle said.
Brackett, the FDA official, said the globalization of the food supply means
the agency is going to have to be more creative and strategic in ensuring
its safety. "I am not quite sure how we're going to do that yet," he said,
"except to know that that's the direction that we're going to be heading."
