Food safetyFDA to require imported food to be inspected at the source

New FDA rules will move imported food inspection offshore // Source: fda.gov

Companies importing food into the United States will be held to higher safety and health standards if new proposed rules by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are passed. Under the proposal, the FDA would require importers to inspect food abroad before the food reaches American ports. For too long there have been too few inspectors facing a growing wave of food imports as retailers buy more of their food supplies from sources outside the United States. Currently only a small fraction of foreign-made foods is examined at ports of entry before distribution to grocery retailers and restaurants. The proposal calls for the FDA to outsource inspection work to firms with overseas food-sourcing operations. Food importers would need to ensure that their foreign suppliers comply with FDA safety rules, or that foreign regulations meet U.S health and safety requirements. The proposal contains accreditation procedures for third-party auditors who may inspect food suppliers.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that according to federal officials, each year about forty-eight million Americans get sick, some 128,000 are hospitalized, and about 3,000 dies from foodborne illnesses. The new measures are designed to reduce food recalls and the outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

As major retailers respond to consumer demand for a variety of foods and fresh produce available year-round, food imports retailers including Costco, Walmart, and Target have surged. The proposed changes are seen as proactive measures to target the sources of contaminated foods rather than respond after foodborne illnesses occur.

“We will continue to check food at our borders,” Michael Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said in a statement on the agency’s Web site. “However, rather than relying almost entirely on FDA’s investigators at the ports to detect and respond to food safety problems, importers would - for the first time - be held accountable for verifying, in a manner transparent to FDA, that the food they import is safe.”

The Chronicle notes that the industry generally supports the new measures since the FDA consulted with major food importers and conducted a cost-benefit analysis, says Michael Robach, vice president of corporate food safety, quality, and regulatory affairs for Cargill, a large U.S food importer with operations in fifty-five countries. “If you are doing the proper oversight, you’re actually in the long term going to be saving yourself money,” he says of costs associated with the inspection changes. Concerns do surround smaller importers without the infrastructure and supply-chain management that major food importers have to adjust to the new measures. The measures are open for public critique and feedback for ninety more days.