Suspicions Deepen on Food Labs

A House committee suggests labs may have been encouraged by importing companies to discard test results that had failed Food and Drug Administration standards.

WASHINGTON — A congressional committee is investigating whether some private U.S. laboratories were instructed to withhold samples of tainted food so that importers could get their goods into the United States.

In a May 1 letter to 10 labs, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce suggests they may have been encouraged by importing companies to discard test results that had failed Food and Drug Administration standards.

"We're gathering information from both the FDA and private industry about the labs almost being complicit in helping importers game the system," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee that is investigating the labs and food companies. "Someone told us you pay for the result you want to get from the labs."

The committee's letter reiterates Stupak's suspicion that testing on some samples was conducted repeatedly until the food passed.

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