TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Lax Food Safety System Requires Overhaul

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 12, 2009

The latest salmonella outbreak provides additional proof the nation's flimsy food safety system poses a threat to both consumers and businesses.

The outbreak is responsible, so far, for 575 illnesses in 43 states and eight deaths. It has been linked to contaminated peanut products produced at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely, Ga.

Investigators say the firm shipped its product to peanut butter manufacturers even after tests showed the food was contaminated. The company shipped some contaminated peanut product as long ago as 2006.

The result has been tragic for victims and devastating for the industry. Sales of peanut butter are down 25 percent.

A similar case occurred last summer when contaminated tomatoes sickened more than 800 people. Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever and stomach aches. In severe cases it can kill.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to avoid tomatoes, which virtually destroyed Florida's tomato industry. It caused state sales to drop 60 percent, even though the Florida crop was fine.

But FDA did not have the resources to quickly identify what crop was at fault, much less keep the dangerous produce from getting to the market.

The FDA's impotence was further exposed during the peanut butter scare. FDA inspectors did not visit the plant, which had a history of problems, from 2001 until last month, when the outbreak was reported.

Visits by state inspectors did little to improve unsanitary conditions.

When federal regulators finally did inspect the plant, they found four strains of salmonella, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitation problems. The company is now under criminal investigation. It closed another plant in Texas this week after state inspectors found salmonella there. The owner refused to testify to Congress Wednesday, repeatedly pleading the Fifth. E-mails released by the House panel show Stewart Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella to be shipped because the contamination was "costing us huge $$$$$."

In a detailed investigation, The New York Times found the oversight of the entire peanut-product industry particularly weak. The FDA was not even able to order a recall of products containing Peanut Corp.'s product. The company itself had to give permission for the recall. If the company had not complied with the FDA request, the agency would have had to seek a court order.

If current law handcuffs regulators, budget cuts have crippled them. The FDA budget to inspect food producers was cut 56 percent from 2003 to 2007.

And the FDA is one of 15 agencies that collectively administer more than 30 laws related to food safety. So the enforcement mission is generally confused, compromised and underfunded.

As the nongovernmental Trust for America's Health concluded: "The system has not been fundamentally modernized in more than 100 years, has inadequate resources to fight modern bacterial threats and has been crippled by reductions in the number of food inspectors and scientists at agencies responsible for food safety."

Each year in this nation some 300,000 people are hospitalized and 5,000 die from eating tainted food. The stakes are high. No system will be foolproof. But the existing oversight is a joke. President Obama and Congress should resolve to adopt food-safety practices that will protect the nation's public health and economic welfare.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT