According to an interview of FDA Commissioner Dc. Scott Gottlieb, the number of inspections conducted by the FDA have been “sharply reduced” by the partial government shutdown. The FDA has oversight over 80% of the food supply in this country. All “routine inspections” of domestic food facilities have been suspended. Gottlieb is trying to bring back … Read more
Food & Water Watch is opposing the National Chicken Council petition to increase poultry slaughter line speeds. The petition was filed on September 1, 2017 with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services. The line speed cap was set in the 2014 regulations creating the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). Food & Water Watch opposed … Read more
Last November, the USDA released its final rule on catfish inspection. The rule became effective in March 2016. But last week, the U.S. Senate voted to shut the program down by passing a resolution of Congressional disapproval and nullification. The program had been finding antibiotics and carcinogens from Siluriformes fish imported from Asia. Catfish used to … Read more
The Des Moines Register has discovered that Iowa suspended its egg facility inspections last year in the wake of the bird flu. Public health officials feared that inspectors could spread the virus as they traveled between egg facilities. The pathogenic outbreak that killed millions of birds nationwide started in December 2014. The height of the epidemic occurred in early spring 2015. … Read more
The FDA has released three inspection reports of the Blue Bell ice cream facilities: one in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, one in Brenham, Texas, and the third in Sylacauga, Alabama. We thought it would be a good idea to cover each inspection report, since they highlight problems at the company that may have led to the … Read more
A report released last week by the Government Accountability Office says that the FDA has to do more about inspecting food facilities in countries that export that food to the United States. The GAO studied the FDA’s foreign offices in 2010 and found that they have a too heavy workload. A follow-up report found that … Read more
Three current and one retired USDA officials are criticizing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Inspection Models Project (HIMP) at hog processing facilities. HIMP increases line speeds and lets company employees do some of the inspection work formerly done by government employees. They say that food safety has been compromised as a result of … Read more
Food & Water Watch along with other organizations such as Consumer Federation of America and Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention called on the Office of Management and Budget to finalize an inspection program for domestic and imported catfish. The USDA drafted a final rule on this matter back in 2008 but nothing has happened … Read more
Cobblestone Farms Baby Back Ribs, which were produced in Canada, are being recalled because they were not presented at the border for inspection. Skilcor Food Products in Brampton, Ontario, is recalling approximately 36 pounds of the fully cooked pork baby back ribs in honey garlic barbeque sauce which were distributed to Shop Rite stores in Brooklyn. … Read more
Stop and Shop and Shop Rite are among the retailers recalling products made by Real Pasta Inc. of North Bergen, NJ. There are 25,000 pounds of assorted frozen Real Pasta products under recall, some that were made without the benefit of inspection, some that were misbranded and may contain soy. To see the U.S. Department of … Read more