Food safety has become a new buzz topic in the news of late, but it is a problem that America has faced for many years. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) simply lacks the necessary resources to cover every product in this country. More importantly, it lacks enough funding to cover and inspect products coming from outside the United States. Third World nations are notorious for lax food regulations, and the developed/developing world still has issues of its own. The worst offender of all is typically China, but all nations present their own particular hurdles.

Last month The Atlantic published an article about the obstacle of funding the FDA and adequately enforcing its policies. For instance, the FDA lacks the ability to order mandatory recalls of food products believed to be contaminated by some harmful substance or contagion. It can issue warnings – as was the case with salmonella in recent years – but it cannot pull items from the shelves. In other industries regulatory agencies are regularly able to recall anything from toys to automobiles.

The biggest problem is the huge cost faced in regulating food safety. No company, foreign or domestic, wants to send contaminated products to its customers. Unfortunately, with so many variables to account for mistakes are sometimes made.

The Post and Courier reported on March 29 on a particular instance where millions of pounds of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) were contaminated with salmonella. The product potentially came into contact with thousands of consumers since September 2009.

Managers responsible for shipping the product could face charges, and the product did not hurt consumers, but the fact is that such a lapse could have been catastrophic.

With our government already sorely constrained by its own budgetary shortcomings, reforms for the FDA and expansions of its funding, seem like a long shot. But, if enough Americans become cognizant of the problem it could become politically viable once again. Instead of dumping trillions of dollars into Wall Street or foreign wars, we could be adequately protecting our citizens and consumers with stronger product safety standards.

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