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Smart Move, FDA
By AngryToxicologist | April 23, 2007
The admission by the FDA in todays Wash. Post that they can’t do the job of protecting the American food suppy in the 21st century, or as the Carpetbagger Report calls it “the complete absence of vapid rationalizations for failure”, is pure genius. Most gov’t workers want to do the right thing but can’t given the legislation, regs, and, resources they have. Ususally when challenged, the natural response is to get defensive, because they think they’re being personally attacked. Instead, the FDA is admitting they can’t do the job which will in the end get them the authority and resources they sorely need to protect our Food and Drugs.
We all get pissed off when the gov’t admits it’s not doing/can’t do its job, and rightly so. This admission, however, allows the country as a whole to actually fix problems as opposed to point fingers. Plus, I like hearing the truth.
Topics: food, how regs work, Consumer Tox |
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. If the FDA gets what they want, more money, they’ll simply continue doing what they’ve been doing; a bad job. It’s time the FDA is put out of its misery. Break the agency up, dedicate non-sector professionals to be objective overseers of the food supply, the medical industry, the pet food industry, medical devices, and cell phones. It has grown to large to do a good job.
As an angry toxocolgist, you should know how bad they’ve really done their job - look at how obesity has grown over the past 30 years using their food pyramid alone.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Also, I don’t it’s that simple. I don’t think the FDA is doing a ‘bad’ job overall, though in certian aspects they certainly are. I’d agree that the food and cosmetics centers need to be taken out from under the shadow of the drug center. But I don’t think it’s gotten too large to do it’s job. How else to cover the enormous number of food and drug producers?
It’s not just a $$ thing but also a legislation and regulation thing so the next time ConAgra balks at giving information, the inspectors can say, ‘tough, hand it over, now’ instead of walking away with their tails between their legs.
I think it’s important to seperate agencies from leadership or administrations. In this instance it’s key; you’ve got people who could do the job, they just need to be given the greenlight.
PS Tagging obesity to the FDA is really the wrong target. I think the large majority of blame can be centered on our educational systems for devaluing physical Ed, the USDA for their ag subsidies of wheat, corn, and soy beans and none for veggies that make it to your table unaltered, but most of all, on a sedentary lifestyle that we’re all partially responsible for.
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Okay. One issue at a time. That was my mistake when I jumped over here to see what you were writing.
While I will agree nothing is that simple, however, the FDA continues to take on more and more without doing anything well. It has taken them years to admit they were wrong about the food chain. Why are they worried about radar waves and cell phones? Yes, they have an impact on the human condition, but there are probably better syuited entities to watch over them.
With regard to their size in general, they are too big. We need to divide the FDA to the DA and the FA. They should never have been combined in the first place. That way there could have been a better toe hold on supplements advertising. It’s not that they don’t want to regulate them, they just have the capability of adding that segment. Far too many people take that junk and waste millions believing it will make their lives better.
If the two entities were divided not only would they be able to justifying enlarging their budgets but they could also restructure their systems to be more effective.
They could also turn a bit of the regulation over to the states. I am not a fan of uniformitarianism, but in the food industry with regard to standards of acceptability in food sources and ingredients, uniformity standards must be the same everywhere. That could alleviate some of the FA’s issue with regard to food.
I managed a food production facility for 6 years in CA. We had to undergo inspections from the county health department, the FDA and the USDA, as well as OSHA and water resources management. If we underwent one inspection that would cover all those entities it would streamline the process and give everyone a defined role and participation.
We have problems at the ports now with regard to food inspections. The Bioterroism Act of 2001 articulated the processes firms would go through to ensure safe import of foods. It added yet another layer of the process that obviously isn’t working.
I agree that separating leadership from administrations would help. The pawns put in place each time leadership changes is ridiculous.
I concur that the USDA does play a huge part in the obesity crisis. I am completely in agreement with eliminating all farm subsidies. And, I agree I am responsible for me. However, when the food pyramid is what is taught in elementary schools as the guide for eating, it really goofs up when the pyramid is lopsided and wrong.
PE programs being cut can be paid at the feet of the Education unions and the shorter work day for teachers. When I went to school, it started at 8:15 and we got out at 3:30. Now kids start at 8:45 and they get out at 2 p.m. That’s where PE went.
We could go on and on. We could fix the problem. However, neither one of us has any real power except these blogs to keep writing and informing people. Maybe someone will read and act and things will change. Hmmmm.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:21 am
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