How can this be, you ask? Because we import a lot of U.S. food products, and many of those may not be getting the safety oversight they should during the U.S. Government Shutdown. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are cutting back on audits…
The past year’s Lettuce scares have highlighted the dangers, to Canada
and other importers of U.S. food products, associated
with the U.S. Government Shutdown.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Professor of Food Distribution and Policy, Faculties of Management and Agriculture, Dalhousie University, recently wrote an op-ed for Food In Canada warning that Canadian food safety is potentially compromised by the U.S. Government Shutdown. That’s because the primary U.S. agencies responsible for overseeing the country’s food safety inspection system are operating on skeleton staffs.
“The Canadian agri-food economy is highly vulnerable, especially during the winter months.” Charlebois notes. “Canada is by far the largest destination for U.S. exports of high-value agricultural products, with a 26.4 per cent market share in 2017 and a value of US $16.2 billion. More than 44 per cent of our imported fruits and 62 per cent of imported vegetables come from the U.S. Based on these numbers alone, it is safe to say that food safety governance and practices in the U.S. matter to Canadians.
“The partial government shutdown in the U.S. that began on December 22nd has caused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to suspend routine food safety inspections due to a lapse in federal funding. Since then, the FDA has issued statements to reassure consumers and the industry that the agency is operating to the best of its abilities.”
Are consumers of U.S. produced foods really in danger?
Charlebois says the situation is not as bad as it may first appear, but it’s still dangerous:
“If we only look at inspections, there is no need to worry. Where meat is concerned, most plants are autonomous and have inspectors on the payroll. Regular audits are conducted, so there is no need for daily inspections by the USDA. The same rules apply to the FDA. Most facilities are inspected every other year and weren’t scheduled to be inspected during the government shutdown. So inspections won’t be affected by what’s happening in Washington, but that doesn’t mean that food safety compliance across the industry is not compromised — far from it.”
But… According to Charlebois, the USDA and the FDA carry out special audits when something serious comes up – like last year’s mass food poisoning outbreaks involving Lettuce from Arizona and Southern California.
“But for some reason, the number of audits has dropped by 47 per cent since 2010, and the industry has yet to give any reason for this significant decline, despite the latest massive recall affecting leafy greens,” Charlebois reports. Any issues like that that come up during the Shutdown won’t be assessed until agency staff go back to work.
Consumer confidence shaken…
Canadian Consumer confidence in the safety of U.S. food imports – specifically Leafy Greens – has been severely affected by the Lettuce scares, and the continuing lack of Federal oversight by the USDA and the FDA will only make the situation worse, Charlebois warns. The worst part is, Canadians and other consumers of U.S. food exports are in the most unenviable of positions during this whole Shutdown mess. We must bear the uncertainty of a potential lack of food safety resulting from the lack of activity of another country’s regulatory agencies. Alas, as Charlebois said off the top, Canada relies heavily on U.S. imports for fresh produce and other food, especially over the cold months.
My take…
We have to ‘grin and bear it’ for now. We could realign our food import patterns to emphasize Europe and South America, I suppose. But, then, the Shutdown could end at any time. I was frightened enough about Trump threatening to ‘push his bigger button’ on North Korea. Now he’s pushing my buttons – directly!
~ Maggie J.