A new report from the Government Accountability Office states that most goals to reduce foodborne illnesses in America have not been met. The GAO report points out that the safety and quality of the U.S.
food supply is governed by at least 30 laws and 15 governmental agencies. The federal food safety system is supplemented by states, localities, Tribes and territories. Most goals established by individual federal agencies and joint-agency efforts have not been met, according to the GAO report.
The report says a national food safety strategy could help achieve goals to improve the safety of the food supply. “. .
. the most recently available data show that FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) and FSIS (the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA) have not met their goals — in one case, by a wide margin,” says the GAO report. “Specifically, FSIS’s goal was to reduce the proportion of poultry samples with Salmonella serotypes commonly associated with human illness by 4 percent; however, the proportion of such samples increased by 22 percent that year.
” The GAO also found that a working group, which includes officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA and FSIS, has made little progress in setting goals associated with the Healthy People 2030 initiative. “. .
. the working group has reported limited progress. For example, six metrics aimed at reducing foodborne illness outbreaks are still under development and do not have defined b.
