Report Faults FDA Action for Safe Food

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has failed to carry out much of its own plan to protect the nation’s food supply, Congressional investigators say in a report that is to be released on Thursday.

The report, by investigators for the Government Accountability Office, is expected to tell the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday that the agency has done little to put into operation its “food protection plan,” which the F.D.A. released in November.

The agency “has added few details on the resources and strategies required to implement the plan,” says the report, which is to be released at the hearing.

“In March 2008, F.D.A. officials indicated that a progress report on actions taken to implement the ‘food protection plan’ would be issued in April 2008,” the report says. “In May, F.D.A. officials told us that they had prepared a draft progress report, but as of June 4, 2008, F.D.A. had not made this report public.”

The food plan calls for putting into effect a risk-based inspection system of food plants, “which is particularly important as the numbers of food firms have increased while inspections have decreased,” the accountability office report says.

“The overall resource need could be significant,” it says.

Read the full New York Times story here.