Recent Food Poisoning Epidemics Show Lax Federal Regulation

THE
AGRIBUSINESS
EXAMINER
December 11, 2003, Issue #311
Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness
>From a Public Interest Perspective

EDITOR\PUBLISHER; A.V. Krebs
E-MAIL: avkrebs@earthlink.net
WEB SITE: http://www.ea1.com/CARP/
TO RECEIVE: Send name and address

FLORIDA EDITORIAL DEADLY FOOD CONTAMINATION CASES
ILLUSTRATES HOW FEDERAL OFFICIALS ARE FAILING TO PROTECT CONSUMERS

ST. PETERSBURG (FLORIDA) TIMES EDITORIAL, DECEMBER 8: A recent case of deadly food contamination illustrates how the federal government fails to
protect consumers from tainted produce imported into the country. An
outbreak of hepatitis A at a Pennsylvania Chi-Chi's restaurant that sickened
more than 600 people and killed three was linked to green onions produced in
Mexico. It may have been the first time many Americans learned of illnesses
related to the consumption of imported vegetables, but this was not an
isolated incident.

Two months before the tragedy, contaminated onions also caused outbreaks of
hepatitis A in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, leaving at least 300
people ill. That produce was traced back to the same farms in Mexico where
the Chi-Chi's onions were grown. Yet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
issued no public warning until after the well-publicized deaths in
Pennsylvania.

"Some of the FDA's policies protect the food industry at the expense of
consumers," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director of the Center
for Science in the Public Interest. "In this case, delaying public
notification may have cost lives."

FDA officials say the link to Mexican onions wasn't made early enough for a
warning, but even if the agency were more responsive in such cases, the
American public would still be at risk. It is a matter of a redundant
bureaucracy and the magnitude of the task. The Agricultural Department
inspects beef, pork and poultry, while the FDA is responsible for vegetables
and fruit, seafood and, oddly, eggs and milk. Many Americans probably will
be surprised to learn that produce causes nearly as many illnesses as beef
and poultry combined. Yet the FDA has only about 1,000
inspectors compared with a USDA force of 7,600.

Imported vegetables pose a greater risk than those grown domestically. In an
FDA test three years ago, produce samples from other countries were more
than three times as likely to contain harmful organisms. Meanwhile, imported
vegetables and fruits are a growing portion of the American diet.

FDA inspectors are visiting Mexican onion exporters linked to the recent
hepatitis A cases, and it's not yet clear what caused the contamination. It
could have been rinse or irrigation water tainted by sewage, or infected
workers handling the onions. Whatever its findings, the FDA doesn't have the
authority to regulate Mexican farming practices, although the agency could
restrict importation from those farms.

Only Congress can address the most serious shortcomings in laws protecting
consumers. Food inspections should be handled by a single agency that is
more independent from political influence, but until that day comes, the FDA
obviously needs more resources to inspect imported produce. And lawmakers
should be more responsive to the needs of consumers rather than the food
industry.

A bill that would require a country-of-origin label on all imported food is
being undermined by House Republicans, who would delay implementation until
2006. Grocery stores and vegetable importers oppose the law because they
believe it will make it more difficult to sell imported produce and meat.
Maybe it will, but Americans should know where the food they eat is being
grown.

The deaths in Pennsylvania should be warning enough that the inspection
program for imported produce is not adequate to protect American consumers.