Bananas from Honduras, jalapenos from Peru, catfish from China, berries from Guatemala…the list could go on and on. The U.S. will import over $70 billion in agricultural products this year yet only about 1.3% of imported foods are actually inspected by the FDA. Feel safe now?
Just last month Chinese catfish containing veterinary drugs, ginger polluted with banned pesticides and melons contaminated with cancer-causing toxins were detained as they entered the country. And considering the recent recall debacles involving tainted wheat gluten from China, salmonella-contaminated peppers and pistachios, it is imperative that the FDA improve its oversight and inspection of our food supply.
Increasingly the foods we consume are sold in the global marketplace. The average American eats about 260 pounds of imported foods per year, amounting to about 13% of our annual diet. We have no control over the pesticides and fertilizers used on fruits and vegetables in foreign countries that end up in our supermarket. What’s even scarier is that as the amount of imported food increases, the actual percentage of inspections by the FDA decreases.
The FDA, which has the responsibility of regulating and inspecting 80% of our food supply (the other 20% is regulated by the USDA), only spends about 24% of its budget on food safety. It’s past the time to overhaul the FDA. Some in Congress feel there should be a separate food safety entity. Considering the increasing amount of our food we are importing, perhaps that is the answer. The FDA’s track record on food and drug safety certainly doesn’t make me feel safe!
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
