Imported food rarely inspected

From: Subject: Imported food rarely inspected - Yahoo! News Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:51:50 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0018_01C780C5.41C87F80" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0018_01C780C5.41C87F80 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/imported_food_safety =EF=BB=BF Imported food rarely inspected - Yahoo! News

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Imported food rarely inspected =

By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 16, 6:36 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and = other=20 foods are inspected =E2=80=94 yet those government inspections regularly = reveal food=20 unfit for human consumption.

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Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru,=20 blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the = Philippines=20 =E2=80=94 the list of tainted food detained at the border by the
Food and Drug = Administration
'=20 name=3Dc1> SEARCH
News | News Photos | = Images | Web
'=20 name=3Dc3> Food=20 and Drug Administration stretches on.

Add to that the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten that poisoned cats = and dogs=20 nationwide and led to a massive pet food recall, and you've got a real=20 international pickle. Does the United States have the wherewithal to = ensure the=20 food it imports is safe?

Food safety experts say no.

With only a minuscule percentage of shipments inspected, they say the = nation=20 is vulnerable to harm from abroad, where rules and regulations governing = food=20 production are often more lax than they are at home.

"FDA doesn't have enough resources or control over this situation = presently,"=20 said Mike Doyle (news,=20 bio,=20 voting=20 record), director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food = Safety,=20 which works with industry to improve safety.

Last month alone, FDA detained nearly 850 shipments of grains, fish,=20 vegetables, nuts, spice, oils and other imported foods for issues = ranging from=20 filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to=20 salmonella.

And that's with just 1.3 percent of the imports inspected. As for the = other=20 98.7 percent, it's not inspected, much less detained, and goes to feed = the=20 nation's growing appetite for imported foods.

Each year, the average American eats about 260 pounds of imported = foods,=20 including processed, ready-to-eat products and single ingredients. = Imports=20 account for about 13 percent of the annual diet.

"Never before in history have we had the sort of system that we have = now,=20 meaning a globalization of the food supply," said Robert Brackett, = director of=20 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=20 producers previously shown to be problematic also are flagged for a = closer=20 look.

Consider this list of Chinese products detained by the FDA just in = the last=20 month: frozen catfish tainted with illegal veterinary drugs, fresh = ginger=20 polluted with pesticides, melon seeds contaminated with a cancer-causing = toxin=20 and filthy dried dates.

But even foods expected to be safe can harbor unexpected perils. Take = wheat=20 gluten: Grains and grain byproducts like it are rarely eaten raw and = generally=20 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=20 foods was inspected after it arrived from China. And if the wheat gluten = was,=20 officials said, it wouldn't have been tested for melamine. Even though = the=20 chemical isn't allowed in food for pets or people, in any quantity, it=20 previously wasn't believed toxic.

How did the melamine wind up in the wheat gluten? Investigators still = don't=20 know. Meanwhile, China is struggling to overhaul its food system and = improve=20 safety standards, but still faces major hurdles.

Farmers use pesticides and chemical fertilizers to build produce = yields and=20 antibiotics are used on seafood and livestock. Heavy metals also can be=20 introduced into the food chain by widespread industrial pollution.

Increasingly, those foods are sold in a now global marketplace.

While the
European Union
'=20 name=3Dc1> SEARCH
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'=20 name=3Dc3> Eur= opean=20 Union, Canada and Mexico still top the list of food exporters = to the=20 U.S., China is coming up fast. Since 1997, the value of Chinese food = imports,=20 including commodities like wheat gluten, has more than tripled, to $2.1 = billion=20 from $644 million, according to Agriculture Department statistics. It = accounts=20 for 3.3 percent of the total food the U.S. buys abroad.=20
For suspect imported products =E2=80=94 and wheat gluten is now one = of them =E2=80=94 the FDA=20 issues alerts to its inspectors. The FDA flags Chinese food and other = imported=20 products it regulates, like cosmetics, for that extra scrutiny more than = any=20 other country except Mexico.=20
To safeguard its export business, China is looking at separating = foods by=20 their ultimate destination, domestic or foreign, according to Michiel = Keyzer,=20 director of the Center for World Food Studies at Amsterdam's Vrije = Universiteit.=20
U.S. government statistics suggest China still has a way to go.=20
The FDA has been stopping Chinese food import shipments at the rate = of about=20 200 per month this year. Shippers have the right to appeal the = detentions, after=20 which the government can order products returned or destroyed.=20
How do you know the origin of the food you eat? The 2002 Farm Act = called for=20 fish, fruit and vegetable imports to be labeled by country of origin, = though=20 implementation for the latter two foods has been delayed.=20
Meanwhile, the U.S. imports more and more, though the increase in = value is=20 partially due to the weaker dollar.=20
All told, the U.S. is expected to import a record $70 billion in = agricultural=20 products for the 12 months ending in September, according to an = Agriculture=20 Department forecast. The value of those imports will be about double the = nearly=20 $36 billion purchased overseas in 1997.=20
Contributing to that growth are the fresh fruits and vegetables = imported=20 during the offseason, when domestic production dwindles or ends.=20
About one-quarter of our fruit, both fresh and frozen, is imported. = For tree=20 nuts, it's about half. And for fish and shellfish, more than two-thirds = come=20 from overseas.=20
Even as the amount of imported food increased, the percentage of FDA=20 inspections declined =E2=80=94 from 1.8 percent in 2003 to 1.3 percent = this year to an=20 expected 1.1 percent next year.=20
"Inspections have a very important role but they're not the solution. = They=20 are the verification," FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said.=20
The FDA and the USDA have adopted a "risk-based" inspection = philosophy,=20 focusing on specific foods, sources or producers that they believe = represent the=20 largest potential risk to the public's health.=20
"The public at large is not at any increased risk," said Craig Henry, = senior=20 vice president and chief operating officer for scientific and regulatory = affairs=20 of the Grocery Manufacturers-Food Products Association, an industry = group.=20
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for = Science in=20 the Public Interest, an advocacy group, countered that "risk-based" is = just=20 shorthand for "reduced resources."=20
"Whenever they say 'risk-based approach,' it often means they don't = have=20 enough staff to actually do the job. They're doing triage. They're = trying to hit=20 what's most important to inspect but they're missing a lot," DeWaal = said.=20
Groups lobbying to increase the FDA's budget say its spending on food = safety=20 has languished, despite the agency's outsized role in ensuring the = safety of the=20 nation's food supply.=20
A recent
= Government Accountability = Office
'=20 name=3Dc1> SEARCH
News | News = Photos | Images | Web
'=20 name=3Dc3> Government=20 Accountability Office report noted that most of the $1.7 = billion the=20 federal government allocates to food safety goes to the USDA, which is=20 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=20 spent on food safety.=20
Unlike the FDA, the USDA requires foreign inspection certificates to=20 accompany all products it regulates, which include meat and poultry. = Those=20 imports are then reinspected at each port of entry before they are = allowed into=20 this country =E2=80=94 something that doesn't happen to all = FDA-regulated imports.=20
Under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, anyone importing food into the = United=20 States is required to notify the FDA of the shipment before it arrives = by land,=20 air or sea. That allows the FDA to intercept contaminated products = before they=20 reach the marketplace, though agency officials acknowledge it doesn't = always=20 work that way.=20
"We have better control than we did a few years ago but it is largely = the=20 responsibility of the importer to make sure those products are safe," = said=20 Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's top veterinarian.=20
ChemNutra Inc., the Las Vegas importer of the tainted wheat gluten, = said it=20 was "particularly troubled" that its supplier did not disclose it = contained=20 melamine.=20
Doyle, of the University of Georgia, warned the contaminated pet food = could=20 be an unsavory taste of what's to come.=20
"This is not the first and will not be the last but it certainly is a = wakeup=20 call for the public to get a better appreciation for where this country = is going=20 with imports and imported foods," Doyle said.=20
Brackett, the FDA official, said the globalization of the food supply = means=20 the agency is going to have to be more creative and strategic in = ensuring its=20 safety. "I am not quite sure how we're going to do that yet," he said, = "except=20 to know that that's the direction that we're going to be heading."=20
___=20
On the Net:=20
Food and Drug Administration: http:/= /us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/storytext/imported_food_s= afety/22655993/SIG=3D10ltssohu/*http://www.fda.gov/=20
Agriculture Department: http:= //us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/storytext/imported_food_= safety/22655993/SIG=3D10m5e08d9/*http://www.usda.gov/

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