[PHNUTR-L] Tainted food exports a global problem -- China not alone

[Kathrynne Holden]

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Tainted food exports a global problem -- China not alone
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/12/MNGHSQUU9J1.DTL

Andrew Martin, Griff Palmer, New York Times

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Black pepper with salmonella from India. Crabmeat from Mexico that is 
too filthy to eat. Candy from Denmark that is mislabeled.

At a time when Chinese imports are under fire for being contaminated or 
defective, federal records suggest that China is not the only country 
that has problems with its exports.

In fact, U.S. inspectors have stopped more food shipments from India and 
Mexico in the last year than they have from China, an analysis of data 
maintained by the Food and Drug Administration shows.

And despite China's much-publicized problems with contaminated seafood 
-- including a temporary ban late last month on imports of five species 
of farm-raised seafood from China -- federal inspectors refused produce 
from the Dominican Republic and candy from Denmark more often.

For instance, produce from the Dominican Republic was stopped 817 times 
last year, usually for containing traces of illegal pesticides. Candy 
from Denmark was impounded 520 times.

By comparison, Chinese seafood was stopped at the border 391 times 
during the last year.

"The reality is, this is not a single-country issue at all," said Carl 
Nielsen, who resigned from the FDA in 2005, after 28 years. His last job 
was director of the agency's Office of Regulatory Affairs Division of 
Import Operations and Policy. "What we are experiencing is massive 
globalization," he said.

The FDA database does not necessarily capture a full and accurate 
picture of product quality from other countries. Only one year of data 
is available on the agency's Web site, and FDA officials declined to 
provide more data without a formal Freedom of Information request, a 
process that can take months or years.

In addition, the FDA inspects only about 1 percent of the imports that 
fall under its jurisdiction.

The FDA database also fails to disclose the quantity of products that 
are refused, so it is impossible to know whether just a box of cucumbers 
was refused or a shipload.

In cases of recurrent problems, the FDA may issue an import alert, which 
leads to additional scrutiny at the border. Last month, for instance, 
the FDA issued not only the import alert for the Chinese fish, but also 
import alerts for Mexican cantaloupes and basmati rice from India, among 
others.

Rafael Laveaga, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said 
the number of food safety problems from Mexican imports was minuscule 
given the huge volume of trade. He said that Mexican food products were 
scrutinized more thoroughly because they arrived by road transit, rather 
than by ship or airplane.

"The proactive and professional relationship that exists between Mexican 
authorities and the FDA has always helped to expeditiously mitigate and 
control any potential risks," he said.

Banarshi Harrison, minister of commerce at the embassy of India, said 
India has recently strengthened its food safety laws. He said 
contamination of spices and pickles might occur on occasion because they 
are processed by many small manufacturers.

"There is really no evidence of a systematic problem for any particular 
product," he said.

Food safety officials from the Dominican Republic and Denmark could not 
be located for comment.

Despite the shortcomings with the FDA database of import refusals, the 
available information makes clear that quality problems extend well 
beyond China, where officials recently admitted that nearly 20 percent 
of the country's products are substandard.

Critics say the FDA has not changed to deal with the flood of imports in 
the last decade, as trade agreements have opened up borders to products 
from across the globe.

The United States imported $1.86 trillion in merchandise last year, 
compared with $1.14 trillion in 2001, a 63 percent increase, according 
to Commerce Department records.

An FDA plan to revamp the way it inspects imports, called the Import 
Strategic Plan, was completed in 2003, but shelved because of budgetary 
constraints, several former FDA officials said. The plan would have 
focused more on finding potential risks in the food supply using vast 
quantities of information -- from inspectors and manufacturers to 
foreign governments and consumers -- to aim at problem imports.

"It basically got deep-sixed," said William Hubbard, a former FDA 
associate commissioner who resigned in 2005 and is now a part of a 
coalition that is advocating for more financing for the agency. "There 
was no capacity to cover as imports went up," he said.

Nancy Childs, a professor of food marketing at St. Joseph University in 
Philadelphia, said the quality problems are the inevitable result of 
companies pursuing the cheapest possible products.

"As long as we are pushing for the lowest price all the time, driving 
our supply chain, you get more efficient," she said. "But at a certain 
point, there is no more efficiency, and you sacrifice quality."
-- 
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar at nutritionucanlivewith.com >
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