FDA not spending its limited resources wisely, new report finds

A new report indicates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is incapable of keeping the nation’s food supply safe.

According to an AP report, a study from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council says the FDA must spend its limited resources in a focused effort to reduce food poisoning outbreaks.

We report almost daily at this site on the scads of food recalls and food-borne illness outbreaks across the country. Thousands each year are afflicted by food-borne illness, and each year regulators lose ground on keeping the supply safe.

The report says the FDA is spending too much of its resources at reactionary measures, not at prevention methods. Rather than take-on problems as they present themselves, regulators should be targeting the riskiest food, most prone to food-borne bacteria.

Based on our reports, and studies conducted for decades, leafy greens and ground beef are most prone to recall. These contaminations usually occur at the processing level, but have also been traced to poor growing practices, or livestock raised in sub-standard conditions.

The study indicates that if Congress and the President can pass pending legislation in a wide-sweeping food safety bill, many of the short-comings can be met.

Key in that legislation is giving the FDA the power to enforce a mandatory recall on food products thought to be a threat to public safety. Currently, the FDA must negotiate a recall with the company assumed to be manufacturing tainted food.