Is the FDA inspecting food during the shutdown? Here’s what the commissioner says
.JPG "FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb took to Twitter Tuesday morning to list some of the food safety guardianship duties the agency continues to perform during the partial government shutdown.")
With a public perhaps more food safety conscious after an outbreak-riddled 2018, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb took to Twitter Tuesday morning to list some of the food safety guardianship duties the agency continues to perform during the partial government shutdown.
▪ “High-risk domestic food surveillance inspections.”
▪ “Foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigations.”
▪ “Execution of high-risk food recalls.”
▪ “Inspection of foreign food facilities.”
▪ “Sampling of imported food samples (including sampling for antibiotic residue contamination and decomposition analysis).”
High-risk inspections resumed last week after being on hold since Dec. 22. Other inspections haven’t resumed.
According to the agency, 46 percent of FDA employees are working and 20 percent of those working are doing so without pay. Meanwhile, 31 percent are furloughed.
There have been four recalls for listeria or salmonella during the shutdown, but two of those were expansions on pre-shutdown recalls.
Six companies made FDA-posted recalls for food allergens not declared on their product labels, but those are company-initiated recalls the FDA’s assisting with broadcasting.
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 9:55 AM.
