(Thumbnail Image: Food Safety News)

BY VANESSA MANCAO

“We need additional resources, we need additional authorities.  We need greater ability to trace back products to their source so we can identify how the contamination occurred and what products are at risk.  We need better abilities and authorities to put in place these preventive controls and hold companies accountable.  And we need to be able to more routinely review records and work with companies to make sure food supply is safe.” (MSNBC)

That's the FDA's commissioner saying her agency doesn't have enough resources to do its job. This in the midst of the largest egg recall in recent history, which has poisoned hundreds of people. 

We're analyzing coverage from MSNBC, the LA Times, WCCO and Politico.  

An article by the LA Times reports, even FDA scientists themselves — when surveyed — don’t believe the safety of the eggs are all that they’re cracked up to be.

“The survey included the question: 'How confident are you that the (current food safety system) adequately protects the consumer from food-borne illness from the following foods?' In the case of eggs, half of the respondents said they were completely or mostly confident in the results, while a quarter said they were somewhat confident. Five percent reported no confidence at all. The rest responded that they did not know.”

Lots of people are blaming the FDA for this recall but a report by WCCO in Minnesota says Congress hasn’t been helping the situation.

“Right now the Food and Drug Administration does not have the authority to prevent these contamination events from occurring.  They can only react to them after the fact.  The House passed legislation a year ago that would allow the FDA to inspect plants more often.  But, the Senate has yet to schedule a vote.”

Politico also believes the Senate could have prevented this outbreak from happening.  It says the delay in the passage of a food safety overhaul prevented the Obama administration to quickly recall 600 million eggs. It says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has to do something about it.

“Lawmakers, aides and analysts say Reid must bring the bill to the floor when the Senate returns in September in light of the major deficiencies in a nearly century-old regulatory system and one of the worst food-related outbreaks yet.”

So, what do you think?  Could the FDA have done more in this case? 

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