FDA is working to protect consumers

Commissioner Scott Gottlieb defends agency’s record on unsafe food recalls

Americans depend on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure their food is safe. We take their trust very seriously. When the Health and Human Services inspector general (IG) released an early alert in 2016 about our food recall process, FDA quickly acted on the concerns raised.

The IG identified a subset of 30 food recalls FDA conducted between October 2012 and May 2015, out of thousands of recalls over that period. The IG said that in the case of some of these 30 recalls, FDA did not implement an effective food-recall process.

Even just a handful of problematic recalls are too many, because lives are at stake. FDA implemented significant corrective steps, in part based on the IG’s findings, and continues to take new steps to improve our oversight.

We have formed a new team of senior leaders to focus on the types of complex recalls examined by the IG to ensure such recalls happen quickly. This new approach has made a big difference. We’re reviewing the most recent data from 2017 to quantify our progress and fix shortcomings.

Additionally, providing consumers with the information they need to avoid unsafe food is critical. We’ve been asked why FDA does not regularly disclose the names and locations of retailers that received recalled products, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture does for some recalled meat.

With most foods that FDA regulates, the food manufacturer or distributor is named on the package. As part of overseeing recalls, FDA provides descriptions, lot codes and photographs to help consumers (and others, such as stores) identify affected products.

But we agree that in some situations, also identifying the retail stores that received a food can help. We’re planning to advance our approach to the collection and release of this information this year.

These are just some of the ways we’re working to protect consumers from unsafe products.