Institute Of Medicine Report Confirms Food Safety At FDA Is Dysfunctional

Press Release

Institute Of Medicine Report Confirms Food Safety At FDA Is Dysfunctional

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) issued the following statement about the Institute of Medicine's report "HHS in the 21st Century: Charting a New Course for a Healthier America." In its examination of whether the Department of Health and Human Services is organized in a manner that allows it to meet this country's public health challenges, the IOM found that when it comes to food safety at the FDA, the agency is broken. To address the dysfunction, DeLauro has advocated that the FDA be split into two separate agencies - dividing the food safety responsibilities from the drug and device safety responsibilities. She will reintroduce legislation in the 111th Congress to accomplish this goal, the Food Safety Modernization Act.

"The Institute of Medicine has confirmed the findings by Congress that the food safety functions within the current Food and Drug Administration are dysfunctional. I also believe that the findings in the report supports legislation that I have introduced that would split the food safety functions from the current FDA, and create a separate food safety agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.

"I am disappointed that the only recommendation in the report that addresses the food safety regulatory structure is IOM's suggestion to move the Food Safety and Inspection Service within the Department of Agriculture to HHS. While the long-term goal should be to create a single, independent food safety agency, shifting Food Safety Inspection Service to HHS now would not be an appropriate step toward that goal.

"With the institutional culture and expertise focused on food safety, the Food Safety Inspection Service is a functioning agency, albeit one operating under antiquated laws.

Conversely, the food safety functions at FDA are completely broken and in dire need of an overhaul before we can press forward with any type of consolidation of food safety functions.

"Incremental steps will be necessary toward the goal of creating a single, independent food safety agency, and the most immediate step that should be taken is to focus exclusively on addressing the dysfunctional food safety system under FDA. Having a separate food safety agency in the Department of Health and Human Services with the personnel and scientists working toward the same objective of protecting our food supply is the first step toward that goal."

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