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Something's Rotten in Food Oversight

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Posted by: 97silverlsc

Something's Rotten in Food Oversight
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...201397_pf.html
By Al Meyerhoff and William B. Schultz
Sunday, September 24, 2006; B07

Federal agents are scurrying across the Salinas Valley -- the nation's "salad bowl" -- in search of the source of the E. coli contaminating the spinach supply. They won't find it without a mirror, because the real culprit in this case is the U.S. government. A half-dozen federal agencies administer a patchwork quilt of outdated standards, inadequate inspections and porous statutes that allow pollution in the fields, filth in the packing houses and contaminated food on the supermarket shelves. Millions of Americans are sickened by food each year; some 9,000 die.

Today American food is more manufactured than grown. Following a scorched-earth approach, workers wearing "spacesuits" inject nerve agents into the soil before planting, leaving nothing alive. Hogs grow enclosed in facilities several stories high. Tomatoes are picked green, gassed and then canned. Writing almost 70 years ago, journalist Carey McWilliams was prescient in his classic work: We now truly do have "factories in the fields." And factories, whether manufacturing steel or frozen peas, generate waste -- in agriculture some 1.4 billion tons per year, 10,000 pounds for each American.

Some of these wastes have a nasty habit of returning in our food. The E. coli in spinach most likely came from the Salinas River or its tributaries, a system of virtual sewers from agricultural runoff and flooding. Since 1995 there have been 20 other E. coli poisonings of spinach and lettuce, eight of them in the Salinas Valley, where nearly every waterway violates national clean-water requirements.

Pathogens, animal waste, agrichemicals and fertilizers routinely enter our food supply, either from environmental pollution, as with E. coli, or intentionally, as in the case of pesticides. Infected animals confined in feed lots are dosed with antibiotics; the lots themselves produce "lagoons" of runoff, contaminating the land, water and the food itself.

Three agencies within the Agriculture Department and two within the Department of Health and Human Services, plus the Environmental Protection Agency, have overlapping jurisdiction over the food supply. None has overarching authority or responsibility for the quality of food. The Government Accountability Office said recently that "it is at times difficult to determine which agency is even responsible for a particular food product," and "arbitrary jurisdictional lines can make the current system difficult to assess and, more importantly, unresponsive to the needs of the public."

Contaminants are not even subject to a single standard. Instead, from the field to the table, different rules apply, reflecting differing regulatory philosophies. Most are many decades old and showing their age. "Tolerances" for pesticides, some from the 1950s, were originally set to address immediate, "acute" health effects. Only now, following a 1996 amendment to the law, are the standards being slowly reassessed to address cancer and other long-term, chronic health effects.

Rules for other food contaminants are even less exacting. There are the "unavoidable environmental contaminants" that get into food indirectly from the soil, surface or irrigation water. These include everything from insect fragments and fly eggs to mercury and lead. They are typically subject only to "action levels": informal, discretionary limits that lack the clout of regulations and are set without sufficient scientific data.

In the late 1990s, in adopting a modest $43 million Food Safety Initiative, the Clinton administration accurately described the problem and made a plea for help. "Our understanding of many pathogens and how they contaminate food is limited," a White House statement said. "For some . . . we do not know how much must be present in food for there to be a risk of illness; for others, we do not have the ability to detect their presence in foods . . . . Resource constraints increasingly limit the ability of state and federal agencies to inspect food processing facilities."

With the federal food safety system so inadequate, it's particularly troubling that earlier this year the House of Representatives passed legislation to override state laws establishing food quality requirements that are more stringent than the federal standards.

Unlike prescription drugs, food does not go through an approval process. The integrity of the system depends heavily on the agency's inspection force in the food production system. Yet the Food and Drug Administration, with responsibility for all processed food products except meat and poultry, has 1,962 inspectors for more than 100,000 facilities -- a decrease of more than 250 inspectors since 2003. Today food processing plants are inspected on average once every 10 years. Imported food is almost never inspected. The USDA has about 6,000 employees who inspect meat and poultry plants, but use of the inspectors is "not based on the food safety risk of particular products," the GAO says.

As a public policy matter, all food safety functions (setting standards, inspection, risk assessment, research) should be consolidated under a single, independent agency (either the Food and Drug Administration or a new federal agency). This approach is supported by scientists and consumer advocates and has been included in legislation introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). In the past, however, similar recommendations have been consistently blocked by agency turf wars and agribusiness clout. But don't despair. September is National Food Safety Education Month.

Al Meyerhoff, an environmental attorney, is a past director of the Natural Resources Defense Council public health program. William B. Schultz was an FDA deputy commissioner from 1994 to 1998.

Posted by: Calabrio

Does everything have to be made in scarey partisan terms?
The desire to just smear the other guy ultimately just results in the more important substance of the story or issue being overshadowed and dismissed.

Rather than actually working for solutions or understanding, we get more of this ridiculous "gotcha" style stuff.

So, what's the answer? Because of an e coli outbreak, we need to radically expand the federal government's oversight of food production? Did I miss the scores of other storis about contaminated food going to market?

Posted by: 97silverlsc

Scary partisan terms? Oversight of the food supply has been a long standing problem. It's been made worse by Shrub's appointees from the overseen industries and cuts in the ranks of inspectors, as well weakening of the rules governing inspection.
Stop defending the emperors new clothes every time his shortcomings are exposed. Your fanaticism in defending everything that shrub does is as appealing as that of the terrorists.

Posted by: Calabrio

OH NOES!! George Bush is poisoning our food!!!!

Posted by: fossten

Hey, C, don't feed the troll.

Posted by: cmarsden

I thought to ad that the imports are not even looked at. As an example there are over 300 ports of entry for inported fruit and veggies that fall under the FDA (go figure) for inspections. Tyhe prolem is that there are kless than two hundred (200) inspectors so it all comes in virtual unchecked. The stuff they catch is one the ODIST list and google that if you want to get sick as it shows what they caught.

Now seafood is another story as it is not checked period. Want to smuggle in a boomb well take it apart and put it in frozen shrimp boxes or whatever and it will be delivered to your door.

Hard to believe? Well it's a fact

Posted by: Calabrio

...are we now trying to link homeland to security with food imports? Try again.

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calabrio

...are we now trying to link homeland to security with food imports? Try again.

See? It's all Bush's fault. *lol*

Posted by: cmarsden

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calabrio

...are we now trying to link homeland to security with food imports? Try again.

OK hows this, you are a raghead and decide to do your part to rid the planet of americans. You take some aerisoled anthrax that you got from the abandoned soviet era lab in Ubekistan and put it into a shrimp package or maybe caviear from Iran aqnd when you get it you fluch it down the toilet here in a major city and when the sewage lift station gets full the stuff comes out the vent pipe and BANG you kill Americans

Far fetched, hell no as if you read and are abreast of current events you woud see this as a very strong scenario.

SARS was spread by sewer and thats a fact. Also the head of the Soviet Bioligical Warefare operation is in the US and lives by Washington. Huis Name? Well it is now Ken Alebock and he has testified about the abandoed stuff in Ubekistan and by the way, the US goverment (US) is paying him to do research on the same crazy stuff he created!

Stranger than fiction Sorry its all true

Posted by: Calabrio

Are we, as Americans, in an open society, always vulnerable to attack.
Yes. And that's an interesting issue.

Linking that to Phil's liberal blog posting about E Coli infected spinach blaming Republicans and a need for more big government, that's a bad connection.

Border and port security aren't what Phil's talking about. He's just lashing out. So you're bio-weapon concerns may be totally valid, I'm not even engaging or challenging your statement, but they're out of context within this thread, and that was my point.

However I seem to remember SARS being an acute respitory disease that was spread through breathing, that's why airlines were so vulnerable. According to the WHO it's been eradicated, but their a UN organization so take it with a grain of salt.

Posted by: 97silverlsc

There is a long, long list of Shrub appointees who were employed by the industries they now regulate. Since shrub has been in office eviromental, safety, and labor rules and regulations have been relaxed or eliminated to the benefit of corporate donors and detriment of the general population. This is all well documented. You readily dismiss my attempts to point this out as "liberal grousing" . If you can't see a problem with what he has done then you truly are a stupid individual. I can only hope that your lack of concern about this comes back to visit you and your family personally.

Posted by: cmarsden

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calabrio

Are we, as Americans, in an open society, always vulnerable to attack.
Yes. And that's an interesting issue.

Linking that to Phil's liberal blog posting about E Coli infected spinach blaming Republicans and a need for more big government, that's a bad connection.

Border and port security aren't what Phil's talking about. He's just lashing out. So you're bio-weapon concerns may be totally valid, I'm not even engaging or challenging your statement, but they're out of context within this thread, and that was my point.

However I seem to remember SARS being an acute respitory disease that was spread through breathing, that's why airlines were so vulnerable. According to the WHO it's been eradicated, but their a UN organization so take it with a grain of salt.

Sars is a virus and if you want to take a look at www.trio3.com you can find some useful info.
The UN has yet to censure the head guys kid who made zillions for food for oil , so I will not go there.

I am not lashing out, but everyday, I learn something. Maybe not what I want to hear, but something useful and I thought that what I said was useful as it simply means WATCH OUT for your self as big govermment cannot

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97silverlsc

I can only hope that your lack of concern about this comes back to visit you and your family personally.

So says the hater troll.

Posted by: Joeychgo

Guys -

I have been in the restaurant business for 20 years. 10 of those years I was certified by the State of Illinois as a Food Service Sanitation Instructor. (that means I teach a licensing class)

I can tell you. The FDA and the USDA does almost NOTHING in the way of inspection of our nation's food supply. They inspect how the plants operate in generalities, but they only watch for WHOLESOMENESS of the food products. They pay very little attention to day to day sanitation practices.

In addition, it is actually very easy to accidentially contanimate food with a bacteria such as E.Coli. It could have been as simple as a loading bin being contaminated, and the food product placed in that bin afterward becoming contaminated from the bin. (just as an example)

This has been how things are for years and years. (as long as I can remember) -- Its not a Bush or Clinton or even Reagan issue. Its just how things have been for a long time. Truth is, its a cost issue. If inspectors were continuously watching the food production, food would triple in cost.

Even restaurants are not relly inspected much. Most states have flimsy inspection rules, such as once or twice a year. Education of food service personnel is all but non existant nationally, and generally, its only the managers. We actually do more eduction of alcohol operations then food service operations.

Posted by: Calabrio

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmarsden

I am not lashing out, but everyday, I learn something. Maybe not what I want to hear, but something useful and I thought that what I said was useful as it simply means WATCH OUT for your self as big govermment cannot

Just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply you were lashing out. That criticism was reserved for the person who started this thread.

Our vulnerability is a cause for some concern, however, the need for safety has to be balanced with the cost. In order to have greater scrutiny, we'd need thousands upon thousands of worthless gov't employees that did nothing but run around in white coats inspecting every food processing plant, distribution point, farm, and small farm. It would take an army of these union workers.

Where would they come from, could it be afforded, and would it really make a difference? How long before people they resembled the professionalism often displayed by air port screeners in major airports?

In the context of the thread, a single outbreak of E Coli is not enough to have the entire government restructure itself.

Posted by: fossten

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeychgo

Guys -

I have been in the restaurant business for 20 years. 10 of those years I was certified by the State of Illinois as a Food Service Sanitation Instructor. (that means I teach a licensing class)

I can tell you. The FDA and the USDA does almost NOTHING in the way of inspection of our nation's food supply. They inspect how the plants operate in generalities, but they only watch for WHOLESOMENESS of the food products. They pay very little attention to day to day sanitation practices.

In addition, it is actually very easy to accidentially contanimate food with a bacteria such as E.Coli. It could have been as simple as a loading bin being contaminated, and the food product placed in that bin afterward becoming contaminated from the bin. (just as an example)

This has been how things are for years and years. (as long as I can remember) -- Its not a Bush or Clinton or even Reagan issue. Its just how things have been for a long time. Truth is, its a cost issue. If inspectors were continuously watching the food production, food would triple in cost.

Even restaurants are not relly inspected much. Most states have flimsy inspection rules, such as once or twice a year. Education of food service personnel is all but non existant nationally, and generally, its only the managers. We actually do more eduction of alcohol operations then food service operations.

Thank you, Joey.

Thus another lame drive-by attempt to smear Bush comes to an ignominious end.