A farm in Mexico, believed to be at the center of the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak, was not part of the Food and Drug Adminstration’s 1,000 food inspections.
According to CBS News, a law exists where the FDA is required to carry out 20 times foreign inspections each year, but the FDA did not come close to meeting the mandate, due to inflation and widespread layoffs.
Meridith Seife, the lead author on a Health and Human Services Inspector General report on FDA inspections of U.S. facilities, says it rests on the FDA’s shoulders.
“FDA inspections really are the first line of defense for mitigating outbreaks. If FDA isn’t routinely going out to food facilities, it’s just completely blind. It’s unable to ensure that those facilities are complying with the laws, with regulations, and that the food that they handle is safe.”
According to FDA’s estimates, it costs an average $38,700 per foreign inspection, and meeting the existing Congressional mandate would cost more than $740 million per year, which is more than 10 percent of the FDA’s budget.
Story via Julia Ingram with CBS News
