10/6/2011 - Only 2% Of Food Imported Into The US Inspected

Source: MSNBC
Critics, including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, say the FDA is simply not up to the task of ensuring the safety of food imports, which are entering this country in ever-growing numbers. The FDA expects 24 million shipments of FDA-regulated goods to pass through the nation’s ports of entry this year, up from 6 million a decade ago.

Studies show that glass-half-empty types don't live as long as those who look on the bright side. But if you're not the happy type, what can you do?

Cancer kiss-off: Getting dumped after diagnosis As farmers markets thrive, so do concerns Cancer spike in men tied to HPV from oral sex More parents think it's safer to delay vaccines About this project
This three-part food safety series is the result of a partnership between msnbc.com and the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. The project, "How Safe is your Food?" was reported by 27 journalism students from Arizona State University, Harvard University, University of Maryland, University of Missouri and the University Nebraska.

During that time, the number of FDA investigators stayed constant at about 1,350. The agency began adding investigators in 2009 and now has about 1,800 — still far short of the number required to keep up with the pace of imports.

In 2010, FDA inspectors physically examined 2.06 percent of all food-related imports. The FDA expects only 1.59 percent of all food imports to be examined this year and even less — only 1.47 percent — next year, according to its Office of Regulatory Affairs.

Which shipments get inspected is increasingly determined by a new computer system called PREDICT, or Predictive Risk-based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting, that is now used at 70 percent of U.S. import operations at land, sea and air ports. It analyzes information such as a manufacturer’s history with the agency, lab test results and even current weather patterns, assigning a risk-based score to each shipment to direct investigators toward the riskiest ones.
After a shipment is flagged, it's up to a person to investigate further. Investigators give top priority to the items with the highest scores and work their way down — at least, to the point they can with limited staff.

This summer, the FDA gave News21 unusual behind-the-scenes access at its largest operating district to show the ways in which front-line operations attempt to keep unsafe food from reaching American supermarket shelves and dinner tables.

Read Full Article Here...