Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach yesterday told lawmakers that the agency, which was heavily criticized for its inspection efforts, is working on a plan to shore up the nation”s food-safety system.
The recent appointment of David Acheson as FDA assistant commissioner for food protection is one of a series of steps that the FDA is taking to improve its inspections, he said.
His comments came during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee.
Other steps include a proposal to “modernize” the agency”s laboratories — a proposal that has come under fire by committee Chairman John D. Dingell and subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, both Michigan Democrats, and others because the FDA would close seven of 13 of them.
The agency has come under heavy criticism in recent months as concerns rise from problems caused by Chinese products in recent months, including pet deaths caused by tainted pet food, toothpaste that contained the poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and “monkfish” that may have been puffer fish containing the toxin tetrodotoxin.
Mr. Stupak dismissed Dr. Acheson”s appointment as “food safety ’czar,” ” saying Dr. Acheson had been central to the agency”s food-safety program for years.
“Promoting Dr. Acheson does not begin to address the deep and chronic shortcomings in FDA”s food-safety program,” Mr. Stupak said, adding that the challenges to the federal food-safety system have expanded exponentially in the past decade “while FDA”s ability to protect the American people has declined even further.”
Food imports have risen 15 percent annually in the past 10 years, according to the FDA.
Dr. von Eschenbach was one of a number of witnesses at the hearing, during which committee members and outside experts criticized the FDA for poorly protecting Americans from tainted food from China and elsewhere.
The FDA has had to restrict its food-safety activities because of its limited resources and broad responsibilities. The Agriculture Department, for example, which is responsible for monitoring meat and poultry imports, limits those imports to 10 ports of entry. The FDA, however, is responsible for a much broader range of food imports and must deal more than 300 ports, not all of which have a permanent FDA presence.
As a result of these and other weaknesses in the FDA”s oversight, committee investigators said companies take steps such as steering seafood into Las Vegas as a port of entry instead of San Francisco, which has more experience handling such imports.
The hearing followed an investigation that included visits to ports of entry and FDA offices or laboratories in places ranging from Detroit to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It found that FDA regulation of food imports is minimal and that the proposed FDA reorganization would probably expose Americans to more danger from unsafe food, particularly imports.
Mr. Stupak noted that less than 1 percent of all imported food is inspected by the FDA, with only a small portion of that actually tested for contaminants.
The probe confirmed that the food-safety program is “woefully understaffed,” he said, adding that there is little question that the federal food-safety system needs “broad-based reform to reduce risks to public health, national security and the economy.”
Mr. Dingell said twice the amount of food is imported into the U.S. than was 10 years ago and the low level of FDA examinations of food imports is unacceptable, particularly given the “horror stories coming out of China.”
A Chinese study says Chinese rivers are so contaminated with sewage, heavy metals and pesticides that fish farmers have no choice but to use chemicals and antibiotics on their fish, Mr. Dingell said.
“Since more than 20 percent of U.S. seafood imports come from China, I shudder to think how much of this tainted Chinese seafood has already reached American tables,” he said.
William K. Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner, described the “perfect storm” of a flood of imported food, increasing risks to food and weakening FDA ability to protect the food supply.
He said, for example, that because of inadequate funding, the agency has lost 1,000 people in its food program and other programs not supported by user fees and that budget requests for most years since the mid-1990s have not included enough funding to cover inflation.
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