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Routine federal food safety inspections need resources to move to states

States could soon be responsible for routine federal food safety inspections if budget proposals being considered by the Trump administration move forward.

Joe Reardon with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is a former Senior Advisor for Federal-State Relations with the Food and Drug Administration. He tells Brownfield work to integrate the food safety systems has been ongoing for two decades.

“This is an opportunity to really get rid of some of the redundancy,” he says. “You’ve heard of a state inspector being in a facility on Monday and a federal inspector being in there on Wednesday. There’s no need to do that. It puts a huge burden on the industry. It’s not very effective.”

Reardon says the shift would require more federal dollars at the state level to be effective.

“FDA, we anticipate will maintain its ability to do those specialized inspections,” he explains. “Infant formula, maybe low acid canned foods, and some of the seafood HASP-type inspections, and then continue to play a very critical role on imported foods coming in.”

He says more than 40 states are currently in compliance with the FDA’s manufactured food regulatory program standards, which establish a uniform foundation for food safety measures.

The National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments has confirmed with Brownfield FDA employees who were temporarily suspended from the Proficiency Testing Laboratory as part of downsizing efforts have been reinstated.

In a statement, the FDA says the temporary suspension of the program does not impact routine testing of milk. The lab is not used to directly test milk or other dairy products.

Reardon says the lab performs essential quality control testing to ensure laboratories nationwide conduct satisfactory food safety analysis.