Food Safety Fears Are Eating At Lawmakers
Tuesday, July 17, 2007PAUL KANGAS: Food safety was in the spotlight on Capitol Hill again today. Lawmakers took on the Food and Drug Administration's plans to close more than half of its food safety inspection labs. As Darren Gersh reports, some in Congress are worried the agency's reorganization could put American consumers in danger.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Congressional investigators told lawmakers less than 1 percent of the 25,000 food shipments entering the country every day from around the world are tested by the FDA. Investigator David Nelson adds some products, like the tainted wheat gluten in pet food from China, may never be tested.
DAVID NELSON, SENIOR INVESTIGATOR, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE: The wheat gluten sort of drew a road map for anybody that wanted to attack our food supply maliciously. You don't go to milk and water and the things that are fairly obvious targets. You find stuff that is not being reviewed at all.
GERSH: Investigators say importers have learned how to avoid inspections by sending shipments to ports where the FDA doesn't have an office. For shipments that are questioned, current regulations let importers pick a private lab to test their products. Investigator Kevin Barstow recalled a conversation with the head of one of those labs.
KEVIN BARSTOW, INVESTIGATIVE COUNSEL, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE: He says that his lab is good, but that he can point out numerous private labs that will guarantee you good test results.
GERSH: Given such concerns, lawmakers were alarmed by an FDA reorganization that will close seven of its 13 food safety labs across the country. FDA scientist Belinda Collins says the agency is about to lose a wealth of experienced workers.
BELINDA COLLINS, DIRECTOR, FDA DENVER DISTRICT: I am confident that without the Denver laboratory, the food we eat as well as the human and animal drugs we use would be much less safe.
GERSH: FDA Commissioner Andrew Von Eschenbach says he wants to shut down out-of-date labs and put more inspectors into the field armed with advanced technologies, like the detector he brought to today's hearing.
ANDREW VON ESCHENBACH, FDA COMMISSIONER: And by simply by pointing this instrument at this bottle, it can register whether there are any heavy metals like arsenic, possible strontium and do that rapidly and efficiently in the field.
GERSH: Next month, congressional investigators will head to India and China to explore food safety concerns. In the meantime, Congress is considering beefing up FDA authority, giving the agency the ability to order mandatory food recalls. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
