Question

1. Why is there no political will to consolidate regulation of the food industry into a single, unified food safety agency at the federal level? What values are in place to prevent this from happening?

2. Should the government have the authority to recall food products when informed of contamination such as possible carcinogen dangers or mad cow disease, rather than relying on voluntary action by the food industry?  

Answer 1

1. The food safety regulations at the Federal level are controlled by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC). Apart from these, there are several agencies at the State level for regulating food safety under different laws. The proponents of the idea to consolidate these agencies argue that the current system has overlapping jurisdiction, redundant costs, causes confusion, inefficiency and inadequacies in delivering results.

The lack of political will is mainly due to the following reasons:

• The committees in the Congress that currently oversee the regulators fear a loss of power if there is any reorganisation.
• The politicians have nexus with various interest groups and lobbies from the food industry, who may not want any change to the existing system. Industry associations will have to rework their relationship with regulating agencies if there is any consolidation.
• Consolidation will have a direct impact on existing jobs in these agencies and in bureaucracy of the various departments that govern these agencies. Politicians generally want to stay away from actions that disrupt government jobs.
• Party politics also plays a role in lack of political consensus on this issue. While President Trump is proposing that the single Federal agency come under the Department of Agriculture, the former President Obama wanted the agency to come under Department of Health and Human Services.

2. Under Chapter 7 of the Food and Drug Administration regulatory procedures manual, firms can voluntarily initiate recall of food products and then the inspection and reports are made by the regulating authorities. The agencies the classify the recall based on the danger level and alerts are issued to public.

• Government must have full authority to recall products that are of Class I hazard level, that which causes serious health problems, epidemics or death.
• Firms exist to maximise wealth for their shareholders and may not always act in the best interest of the public. Business interest may weigh heavier than voluntarily recalling their products.
• Governments have a public duty to ensure safety and must not wait for firms to voluntarily initiate recall unsafe products.
• Firms may not volunteer to recall in every case since it reflects poorly on their brand and quality, may give advantage to their competitors, or may result in operating losses. Firms may try to internally solve the safety issue and engage in cover up. For these reasons, government must not rely on voluntary recall.