In two recent cases, the FDA waited months before forcing the recall of contaminated food, said Inspector General Daniel Levinson, calling for “immediate attention” to the shortcoming. “Consumers remained at risk of illness or death for several weeks after FDA knew of potentially hazardous food,” Levinson wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a rare “early alert” warning.
In a statement, FDA agreed: “These delays are unacceptable.” It said it was making improvements, such as a rapid-response team of agency leaders to assure “timely and efficient measures to help mitigate public health risks.” FDA generally relies on companies to voluntarily recall harmful foods but it also has authority to mandate them.
At the moment, “FDA does not have adequate policies and procedures to ensure that firms take prompt and effective action in initiating voluntary food recalls,” said Levinson. The memo said FDA should set a timeframe for asking companies to recall products and for when a voluntary recall would begin. “This issue is a significant matter and requires FDA’s immediate attention.”
The recommendation arose during a Office of Inspector General audit of FDA’s food recall program. Of 30 recalls selected for the audit, two involved lengthy delays. A 2014 recall of peanut and almond butter linked to salmonella poisoning did not begin until 165 days after FDA became aware of the possible contamination. In another 2014 case involved cheese, “81 days passed from the date FDA became aware of the adulterated products and the date the firm voluntarily recalled all affected products,” said the OIG.
Fourteen cases of salmonella were linked to the nut butter recall. In the cheese recall, there were at least nine cases of listeria including one infant who died. Salmonella and listeria are types of food-borne illness.
The FDA said that it oversaw thousands of food recalls during the period being audited by OIG, from October 2012-May 2015. The average time to initiate a recall was less than a week, it said. “A small number of these recalls fell well outside of that average, with months passing before all impacted products were taken off shelves, even though the FDA notified the companies involved of a contamination as soon as it had evidence.”
FDA oversees the majority of the U.S. food supply. The USDA is in charge of meat safety.