June 1, 2007

US consumer group urges more funds for FDA inspections
 

A US consumer group has urged Congress to give more funding to the FDA so it can adequately conduct inspections to protect public health.

Seafood shipments checked by the FDA has dropped more than 30 percent over the past few years, dropping from a low 0.88 percent in 2003 to an even lower 0.59 percent in 2006.

The finding, by a Food & Water Watch report, indicated how contaminated food imports could still have slipped through the FDA's inspections and endanger public health. 

Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said Congress should restore the funding they cut for inspection of foreign processing plants and fund FDA at appropriate levels.

The report's analysis of FDA border refusals of imported seafood shipments from 2003 to 2006 revealed that more than 70 percent of rejected shipments were from seafood.

However, under current laws, retailers do not need to state the country of origin, thus depriving consumers of information on where the seafood could have come from.

The group called on the USDA to expand country of origin labeling requirements to cover processed seafood and seafood in all stores and restaurants.

About twenty percent of rejected shipments was due to salmonella presence, with almost half of it in shrimps.

The organization also revealed earlier that the FDA rejected more shipments in the first four months of the year than it did the whole of 2006. More than 60 percent of the refused shipments were from China.

Food & Water Watch recommends that FDA inspect more shipments of seafood at their port of entry and the foreign facilities where they are grown and processed.