WaPo: The latest salmonella outbreak highlights gaps in the nation's food supply

Peanut Bummer. WaPo Editorial
The latest salmonella outbreak highlights gaps in the nation's food supply.
Monday, February 2, 2009; Page A12

EVEN THOUGH he's not caught up in this mess, Mr. Peanut must want to clobber the geniuses at Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) with his cane. The Food and Drug Administration revealed last week that the company's Blakely, Ga., facility knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted peanut products 12 times between 2007 and 2008 to locations in the United States and abroad. The company, based in Lynchburg, Va., has urged anyone in possession of its products made in the past two years to throw them out.

This is one of the biggest recalls in U.S. history and another example of vulnerability in the nation's food supply. None of PCA's peanut products are sold directly to consumers. But the FDA says that more than 70 firms used the company's goods in all manner of foods, from cookies and pet food to ice cream and cereal. Since the salmonella outbreak was discovered last summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that eight deaths and 501 illnesses spread across 43 states and Canada may be linked to the Georgia plant. The FDA alleges that not only did PCA knowingly ship bad merchandise but it went to another testing facility to get a clean bill of health after initially getting test results that were positive for salmonella. The company denies this allegation. The FDA said that the problems that led to the contamination were not fixed.

The FDA uncovered the problems by securing inspection reports done by the state of Georgia, using a special 2002 law meant to prevent bioterrorism. The agency last inspected the Blakely plant in 2001 and then contracted out the inspections to the Georgia Department of Agriculture. While this practice is not uncommon for the FDA, it speaks volumes about the lack of resources the agency has to protect the nation's food supply. According to Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the FDA has lost more than 600 inspectors since 2004. "The fewer inspectors the FDA has, the more it relies on state inspectors," she told us.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) has reintroduced legislation that would give the FDA more money and authority over food safety, including the power to issue mandatory recalls of contaminated food. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) will try again to get a bill passed that would require the FDA to devise a system that would make it possible to trace food and produce from the farm to the dinner table. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) has a bill that would give the FDA more money and authority to conduct inspections. As we have learned over the past year, much of the food safety system in this country is based on the trust that manufacturers are introducing products into the food supply that are clean and safe. President Ronald Reagan had a mantra for dealing with Russia that is apt here: "Trust but verify." Congress must give the FDA and other relevant agencies the power to do it.