WASHINGTON — It did not take exporters and importers long to learn that the safety net for goods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration is full of holes.
According to testimony Tuesday before a House subcommittee, they have been able to bring tainted products into this country because the FDA has neither enough resources nor inspectors to stop them. And each year it has become easier: since 2003, the number of inspectors has decreased while imports of food alone have almost doubled.
Despite headlines about tainted imports, the FDA intends to close 7 of its 13 laboratories that test for these problems. Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the subcommittee, said the closings “would likely expose Americans to even more danger from unsafe food, particularly imports.”
Read the full New York Times story here.
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