News

Government shutdown halts food facility inspections, 'puts our food supply at risk'

January 9, 2019

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gotlieb told the Washington Post that the agency — which oversees most of the nation's food supply — has halted "all routine inspections of domestic food-processing facilities" as a result of the partial U.S. government shutdown. 

Gottlieb told the paper that a plan is being developed to return some inspectors to the job to resume reviews of what the agency sees as high-risk facilities that have problem histories or those which handle items like soft cheese or seafood, the Post reported. Those facilities number about a third of the 160 routine inspections FDA conducts weekly. 

The paper quoted the non-profit, Center for Science in the Public Interest Deputy Director of Regulatory Affairs Sarah Sorscher as finding that situation untenable. 

"That puts our food supply at risk," she told the Post. 

Foodborne illness sickens 48 million people and kills approximately 3,000 individuals annually in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food facility inspections are among many government risk management activities that have been put on hold since the shutdown occurred three weeks ago.