US FDA to check for risky food using new programme

US border inspectors nationwide will soon start using a new computer system to identify risky food and medicine from abroad, the head of the US Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday (Feb 5).

 

The project follows recalls of tainted seafood and other products from China, as well as a contaminated blood thinner blamed for dozens of deaths in 2008.

 

About 20 million of shipments of food, medicine, medical devices and cosmetics are expected to arrive at US ports this year, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said. That is up from about six million a decade ago.

 

With the growing flood of products, inspectors typically examine less than 1%.

 

Under the new system, border staff can check products in a computer database that gives a score for the risk level. The score is calculated in part based on whether the maker has a history of recalls and how susceptible the product is to contamination.

 

High-score products can be set aside for further checks. The programme will allow inspectors to target shipments for inspection that pose the greatest risk, said Hamburg.

 

Inspectors will still be checking only a small percentage of shipments, but will be using "better intelligence" to decide what to check, Hamburg said.

 

The programme, called Predict, has been tested in Los Angeles and is being implemented in New York, Hamburg said.

 

The FDA plans to have the system in use nationwide by early summer, agency spokesman George Strait said.

 

An estimated 15%-20% of all food consumed in the United States originates from abroad and up to 40% of medicines are imported, Hamburg said.