Both Obama Trump and the GAO, among others, favored a single federal food safety agency. How would that be?

Steve Sayer is a 41-year veteran of the beef / poultry industry and a food safety / FDA / OSHA / Humane Handling and GFSI consultant representing Sayer Consulting / Auditing, LLC (San Clemente, Calif.) Reach him at sayersteve9@Gmail.com.

Like present day FDA, what would it be like if all USDA / FSIS establishments were inspected once every four (4) or (five) 5 years or more, instead of every production day as it presently is for USDA inspected plants?

Let's go ahead and start off with the USDA's and FDA's individual 2022 Mission Statements and then - do a quick trip back in time.

USDAs 2022 MISSION STATEMENT

FSIS is of course a public health agency in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that is responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products, whether domestic or imported, is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

FSIS inspection personnel inspect "each and every livestock and poultry carcass" before it can enter commerce. No meat or poultry product can enter commerce unless the USDA can find that it is not adulterated.

In addition, FSIS reviews and approves the labels of meat, poultry, and egg products and ensures that they are truthful, not misleading, and contain key information. USDA also take action should misbranded or economically adulterated products enter commerce.

After the publication in 1906 of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, which described in detail the unsanitary working conditions in a Chicago meatpacking house, Congress passed legislation providing for the inspection of meat.

Ultimately, this legislation became the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). In addition, Congress passed the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), and the Egg Products Inspection Act, all of which the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) enforces.

Oh - and the USDA inspects domestically grown catfish too.

FDAs 2022 MISSION STATEMENT

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of;

human and veterinary drugs,

biological products, and medical devices;

and by ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.

FDA also has responsibility for regulating the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products to protect the public health.

FDA is responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medical products more effective, safer, and more affordable and by helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medical products and foods to maintain and improve their health.

FDA also plays a significant role in the Nation's counterterrorism capability.

FDA fulfills this responsibility by ensuring the security of the food supply and by fostering development of medical products to respond to deliberate and naturally emerging public health threats.

The FDA and USDA both recognize that close communication and knowledge sharing is critical to ensuring a safe and abundant food supply for Americans and others.

PRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCES AMONG OTHERS FOR A SINGLE FOOD AGENCY

When Donald Trump was in office he wanted to consolidate federal food safety under a single agency housed in the United States Department of Agriculture.

President Barack Obama also wanted to consolidate food safety, only he preferred housing it in the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Food and Drug Administration.

Obama failed because Congress would not extend him the power to reorganize government. Trump tried extending where Obama left off - - - by seeking executive reorganization authority under his "Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century" program.

His reorganization project’s report said federal food safety efforts are currently marked by “inconsistent oversight, infective coordination and inefficient use of resources.”

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) of Congress has also issued numerous reports, going back decades, calling for a single federal food safety agency and listing numerous criticisms of the existing system.

The FDA along with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are the two top federal food safety agencies in the USA in 2022.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assists with food-borne outbreak investigations, but does not have responsibility for food safety rules nor the enforcement of them.

“There are many examples of how illogical our fragmented and sometimes duplicative food safety system can be,” said the Trump Administration report.

For example:

While FSIS has regulatory responsibility for the safety of liquid eggs, FDA has regulatory responsibility for the safety of eggs while they are inside their shells;

FDA regulates cheese pizza; but if there is pepperoni on top, it falls under the jurisdiction of FSIS;

FDA regulates closed-faced meat sandwiches, while FSIS regulates open-faced meat sandwiches.”

Trump’s executive budget office had stated that consolidation was the answer.

“To address this fragmented and illogical division of federal oversight, FSIS and the food safety functions of FDA would be consolidated into a single agency within USDA called the Federal Food Safety Agency,” according to Trump’s Office of Executive Management and Budget (OMB).

The new USDA food safety unit would have had up about 14, 200 employees with the annual budget authority of about $2.3 billion by combining existing FSIS and FDA food safety workforces and budgets. Currently, FSIS employees about 9, 200 with a $1 billion budget. The FDA’s food safety work involves about 5,000 employees and budgets totaling about $1.3 billion.

Others who’ve called for a single food safety agency, according to the report, include the National Research Council and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Many outside groups have recommended that the core federal food safety responsibilities should reside in a single entity or agency, with a unified administrative structure, clean mandate, a dedicated budget, and full responsibility for the oversight of the entire U.S. food supply.

The most frequently offered congressional solutions to the single agency has been offered by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, over the years have sought a single, independent food safety agency.

The single, independent food safety agency is the model that is usually favored by groups representing consumers and victims of foodborne illness. They believe an independent agency would have the highest visibility and focus to gain public support and resources.

Obama se out - after the Democrats lost control of Congress to the Republicans, to ask for the authority to reorganize government. Down through history, executive reorganization on occasion has been a bipartisan issue.

Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, and Carter are among those who’ve reorganized the executive branch. So too did George W. Bush who consolidated multiple protective units into Homeland Security after 9/11.

Obama’s plan was to first merge six business agencies and then follow up by building a single food safety agency at FDA.

From Herbert Hoover through Ronald Reagan, presidents had the power to reorganize the federal government, subject only to a veto by Congress.

But Congress killed that process during the Reagan Administration and instead put itself at the center of reorganization proposals for the past 30 years. President Obama was not able to get Congress to return to the congressional veto system.

MONEY MATTERS IN WASHINGTON DC

Some observers say the reason reorganizations die in Congress is that any changes by the executive branch of government also change legislative branch committee lineups.

Take, for example, the $70 billion food stamp program now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It’s a USDA program now and falls under the House and Senate agriculture committees.

Trump had wanted to move it out of USDA and house it with other public assistance programs. That would mean less power and influence for ag committee members.

“USDA is well poised to house the Federal Food Safety Agency,” Trump’s proposal had stated. “USDA is a strong leader in food safety; has a thorough understanding of food safety risks and issues all along the farm to fork continuum, and many agencies with USDA focus on food safety.”

The report notes that USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) spends $112 million “on in-house food safety research, and ARS scientists work with both FSIS and FDA to help develop research priorities and food safety practices.”

Other USDA food safety programs involve managing wildlife on farms, monitoring animal health, collecting pesticide residue data on fruits and vegetables and working with the states.

If the Trump reorganization had been approved, the FDA would have been renamed the “Federal Drug Administration” and continue with its focus on drugs, medical devices, biologics, tobacco, dietary supplements, and cosmetics.

SUMMARY

Several years ago, the USDA’s Secretary Sonny Perdue and Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, signed an agreement to coordinate research efforts in food safety and related regulatory issues. The event formalized efforts started between program directors who recognized a need to share expertise in their respective sciences.

This agreement takes steps to increase clarity, efficiency, and potentially reduce the number of duplicate regulations.

For example, when a canned soup facility produces both chicken noodle soup and tomato soup, it is subject to regulation by both agencies. Going forward, ways to reduce inspection inefficiencies, while upholding safety standards will be identified.

Streamlining can truncate costs on industry and free up government resources to target areas of "high risk."

Further, the agencies committed to increase efficiency of the regulatory processes specifically for biotechnology products and in produce safety, via the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011.

USDA’s Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) had hosted a seminar for USDA scientists to hear from FDA scientists on the Total Diet Study (TDS), specifically its impacts, modernizations, and exposure assessments. FDA reciprocated by hosting USDA scientists who shared their research into pesticides in foods.

With coordination in science, education and outreach, the USDA and FDA partnership will hopefully ensure the safety of the foods we consume and help ensure that we -

“do right and feed everyone.”

XTRA XTRA XTRA

AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR YOUR YOUNG ONES

In September, Walmart in San Clemente, California had their wide variety of colorful Christmas trees out on the floor - with over-sized Santa Clause fixtures - even a Snowman.

So with that in mind, how about a clever Christmas present for your kids, grandkids, nephews, nieces or a neighbor?

The book depicted above - "What are the parts of Government," is excellent for the young ones to learn about what a great country we have and - - - how it operates in the 21st century.

Why not?

Knowledge is power; as is one's broaden horizons and vocabulary - - - when reading books.

COMING SOON - A BLOG ON CALIFORNIA'S PROPOSITION 65

WORD OF THE DAY

Blaise Pascal, was a brilliant contemporary of Descartes, who was a gifted mathematician and physicist, but it is his unfinished apologia for the Christian religion upon which his reputation now rests in 2022.

The Penseés is a fascinating collection of philosophical fragments, notes and essays in which Pascal explores the contradictions of human nature in psychological, social, metaphysical and - above all - theological terms.

Mankind emerges from Pascal's analysis as a wretched and desolate creature within an impersonal universe - but who can be transformed through faith in God's grace. 

Have a great fall weekend everyone.

And please - - - include in your prayers - every single night - all the people of Ukraine and their present plight with Putin.

"Don't forget, you don't know I'm here at all.

No word of that fact is to be mentioned in any letters.

The world is not supposed to know what the hell they did with me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this army.

I'm not even supposed to be in England.

Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamned Germans.

Some day, I want them to rise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl 'Ach! It's the goddamned Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again!'

Then there's one thing you men will be able to say when this war is over and you get back home.

Thirty years from now when you're sitting by your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?'

You won't have to cough and say, 'Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.'

No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say 'Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton!'

All right, you sons of bitches. You know how I feel. I'll be proud to lead you wonderful guys in battle anytime, anywhere.

That's all."