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FDA Sloppy on Food Recalls

Posted on Jun 30, 2011

FDA Sloppy on Food Recalls

Government investigators have determined that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has failed to properly attend to their duties regarding recalls of dangerous foods, thereby endangering consumers.

The inspector general of Health and Human Services, Daniel Levinson, audited 17 out of 40 recalls over a one-year period from mid-2007 to mid-2008. The seventeen recalls studied included seven with salmonella (including cantaloupes from Honduras), five with listeria (including mussel meat from New Zealand), four with botulism (including frozen fish from Korea), and one with high lead content.

The report claimed the FDA did not adequately follow up on reports of contaminations. One case saw a recall occur three months after contamination was found. Another case waited a month. In 14 of the cases, the FDA did not properly inspects the products. In 5 cases, they did not follow up to monitor the recall. 12 recalls were improperly audited. Given this lack of oversight, in 13 cases, companies did not supply the necessary information to their customers to instigate proper recall procedures.

David Dorsey, an FDA official, touted the food reform law signed in January 2011 would fix some of these problems by giving the FDA greater leverage over companies with dangerous products. The agency is also considering hiring private contractors to do this work. In any case, the FDA claims it does not have the funds to properly carry out its tasks. The inspector general's report recommended the FDA works closely with international agencies to monitor imported food.

If you would like more information about how negligence and accident cases work in the state of New York, I encourage you to explore my educational website http://www.oginski-law.com. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com to answer your questions. That's what I do every day. I welcome your call.

Gerry practices law exclusively in the State of New York. Within New York he practices primarily in the following counties: New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk. Technically, Brooklyn is known as "Kings County," and Manhattan and New York City are known as "New York County." Staten Island is known as "Richmond County." These counties make up the New York metropolitan area.