Surge in imported food not met by increased inspection

The desire of U.S. consumers to save a few dollars is a major contributor to the surge in imported food products, a top official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday. “There are economic factors that are pushing” this growth in food imports, David Acheson, FDA’s food safety czar, said at a conference on food policy. “The expectation is, I don’t want to pay $5 for a head of lettuce. How are you going to deal with that? You import the food,” he said. Although food imports are growing at 15 percent a year, FDA inspected about 1 percent of the goods under its purview in the fiscal year ending 30 September 2006. An estimated 15 percent of the U.S. food supply is imported. The FDA, which is in charge of 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, mostly fruits, vegetables, and processed foods, has been criticized as being too passive in handling the growing surge of imports into the United States. Lawmakers and consumer groups have said that Americans are skeptical of imported food and other products after a series of safety scares, pushing the food safety system into a crisis situation. Legislators plan to introduce legislation next week which would improve food safety in the United States. A separate bill proposed in the House would increase FDA’s inspection of imports and give it the ability to recall unacceptable products.

U.S. food companies have asked for tougher government guidelines on how companies verify imported foods or inputs, along with more money for the FDA, widely seen as understaffed and underfunded. “The global food supply is definitely driving us in a direction where we have got to change,” Acheson said, adding that changes must occur at home and abroad to be effective. FDA is in the process of fashioning a new food strategy which would focus more on prevention by identifying where the risks are the greatest, rather than reacting to situations, largely through inspections. Acheson said the plan has been “fast-tracked” and should be released later this year. A separate report from the Bush administration that would recommend steps to ensure the safety of imports in order to restore public confidence is due in November.

A bill is now under consideration in the House which would restrict shipments of foreign food by funneling such shipments through thirteen U.S. ports of entry, cutting out Chicago, Houston, Miami, and several hundred other cities. The goal of the bill is to tighten U.S. oversight of imports. The restrictions would fix an import safety network now “equivalent in holes to a block of Swiss cheese,” Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan), said Wednesday during the first legislative hearing on his bill. Dingell also proposes assessing $500 million in fees on shipments of food and drugs to step up Food and Drug Administration inspections of both. The grocery industry, importers, and exporters warned the proposal would disrupt trade and send consumer prices soaring. One lawmaker said the proposal would have to strike a balance between the demands of security and commerce to work.