Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Manufacturing News

Manufacturing News

GAO believes federal oversight of food safety is disjointed

Performance of federal food safety agencies

GAO rates the performance of Federal food safety agencies as less than stellar, with improvement needed in several areas, especially action plans and monitoring. Source: Government Accountability Office.

April 11, 2016

Recently, GAO personnel changed the name of a document from “Revamping Federal Oversight of Food Safety” to “Improving Federal Oversight of Food Safety.” The move reflects GAO’s belief food safety efforts in the US are disjointed, with 15 different responsible agencies and 30 applicable laws. Yet, this fragmentation in food safety oversight can be overcome by improving planning and collaboration.

The President’s Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) was designed to improve communications among Federal agencies. But, it hasn’t met in more than three years, despite being tasked to “coordinate with other agencies and senior officials to advise the President on improving coordination throughout the government, examining and upgrading food safety laws, and enforcing laws that will keep the American people safe,” according to President Obama’s Weekly Address on March 14, 2009.

GAO has cited three major factors adding to food safety issues. FSMA has addressed the first of these—the increasing amount of imported food products coming into the US. Secondly, consumers are eating more raw and minimally processed food. And third, the number of people particularly susceptible to foodborne illnesses is growing.

In 2011, the GPRA Modernization Act (GPRAMA) was passed, with the intent of improving communication among Federal agencies. The law requires each agency to create strategic and performance planning documents that describe how it works with other agencies to achieve its goals.

According to GAO, HHS and USDA have taken steps to implement GPRAMA’s cross-cutting requirements for their food safety efforts but have not fully addressed cross-cutting food safety in their strategic and performance planning documents. In addition, they haven’t included several relevant cross-cutting efforts, such as the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, which tracks whether foodborne and other bacteria are resistant to the antibiotics used to treat patients and/or prevent the spread of illness.

Often, planning documents reveal how much more must be done to integrate the agencies’ knowledge and reach to develop a single, government-wide food safety performance plan. A unified plan is important because, in the future, government agencies will no longer be able to go it alone.

FDA and FSIS are working to facilitate interagency food safety coordination. However, the existing mechanisms they employ focus on specific issues; none provides for broad-based centralized collaboration. For example, FDA and FSIS are collaborating with CDC through the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration to improve estimates of the most common sources of foodborne illness. However, this and other mechanisms do not allow FDA, FSIS and other agencies to look beyond their individual programs to determine how each contributes to the Federal food safety goals.

FSMA includes numerous provisions requiring interagency collaboration. But, these also focus on specific topics and don’t provide for centralized, broad-based collaboration with food safety regulations and programs. While Federal food safety agencies have partially met the criteria to address the fragmentation of food safety oversight, OMB (Office of Management & Budget) must develop a government-wide performance plan for food safety. Unfortunately, OMB has taken no action in four years to develop such a plan. And, although the FSWG was supposed to be a solution to centralization, the group is no longer meeting.

GAO has consulted with food safety experts who state a centralized mechanism is necessary to foster effective interagency collaboration and enhance food safety oversight. Consequently, the agency has suggested Congress consider directing OMB to develop a government-wide performance plan for food safety and formalizing the FSWG through a statute. In addition, GAO is encouraging HHS and USDA to follow GPRAMA regulations related to cross-cutting requirements.

KEYWORDS: FDA FSMA regulations USDA

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    Latest headlines
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Food Safety
    By: Richard F. Stier
Subscribe For Free!
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

OT Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Food Manufacturing Facilities

OT Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Food Manufacturing Facilities

Understanding Impacts of OT Cybersecurity Events in Food Manufacturing

Understanding Impacts of OT Cybersecurity Events in Food Manufacturing

Food Plant Openings and Expansions April 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions April 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

FMTE Formed by Four Food Manufacturing Companies

Coalition Unites Europe’s Food Manufacturing Technologies and Equipment Sector

Kraft Heinz DeKalb Distribution Center Rendering

Kraft Heinz Upgrades U.S. Manufacturing Facilities

Sanitation worker spraying water

Fighting the Foodborne Bacteria War with Cleaning and Sanitation

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • GAO releases food safety report

    See More
  • FDA oversight on food imports should leverage other countries’ resources

    FDA oversight on food imports should leverage other countries’ resources

    See More
  • FDA

    GAO evaluates FDA on Produce Safety Rule communications

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • Functionalized_Carbohydrate.gif

    Functionalizing Carbohydrates for Food Applications

See More Products
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!