Safe Food_ Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism - Marion Nestle [39]
TABLE 6. The distribution of U.S. government regulatory responsibility for food safety, and annual budget allocations, 2000
Government Agency
Budget ($ million)
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Regulates all foods (except meat, poultry, and processed eggs)
Regulates animal drugs and feeds
$283
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Surveys and investigates foodborne disease outbreaks
29
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Inspects meat, poultry, and pasteurized and processed eggs
712
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
Regulates safety of eggs and egg products
Inspects egg, dairy, fruit, vegetable, meat, and poultry products
13
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)
Inspects corn, sorghum, rice for aflatoxin
*
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Protects animals and plants from diseases and pests
*
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Conducts research on food safety
82
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
171
Regulates pesticides and genetically modified plant pesticides
Establishes pesticide tolerance limits
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
Regulates production, distribution, and labeling of alcoholic beverages (exception: FDA regulates wines containing less than 7% alcohol)
*
Customs Service
Examines and collects food import samples
*
U.S. Department of Commerce
National Marine Fisheries Service
Conducts voluntary seafood inspection program
Certifies seafood-based animal feeds and pet foods
*
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
*
Regulates advertising of food products
SOURCE: Robinson RA. General Accounting Office (GAO-02-47T), October 10, 2001.
*Information not available, or amounts too low to record. The total federal food safety budget indicated here is just under $1.3 billion for fiscal year 2000.
TABLE 7. The illogical division of food safety oversight between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
USDA Regulates
FDA Regulates
Hot dogs in pastry dough
Hot dogs in rolls
Corn dogs
Bagel dogs
Open-face meat and poultry sandwiches
Closed-face meat and poultry sandwiches
Soups with more than 2% meat and poultry
Soups with less than 2% meat and poultry
Spaghetti sauce with meat stock
Spaghetti sauce without meat stock
Pizza with meat toppings
Cheese pizza
Beans with more than 2% bacon
Beans with pork (no limit)
SOURCE: Robinson RA. General Accounting Office (GAO-02-47T), October 10, 2001.
Under the current system, a sandwich made with bread, ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomato raises regulatory issues of terrifying complexity. If the sandwich is made with one slice of bread, it falls under USDA rules; if it is made with two slices, it is the FDA’s responsibility. To protect the safety of such a sandwich, three cabinet-level federal agencies—the FDA, EPA, and USDA (including four major divisions of the latter)—oversee its farm-to-table production. Because the USDA performs daily on-site inspections but the FDA inspects plants under its jurisdiction only about once every five years, any facility producing a food that involves both agencies must deal with inspectors operating under two entirely different sets of guidelines and schedules. State inspectors add a third level of inconsistent oversight.
These examples are amusing but unlikely to be dangerous. Four federal agencies, however, oversee one aspect or another of the safety of egg and egg products, a situation that directly affects control of Salmonella enteritidis. In the U.S., 45% of all egg-laying flocks