The Food and Drug Administration proposed new rules last week that should go a long way toward ensuring the safety of imported foods. The need for stronger regulation is clear. Food imports have been soaring, inspections by the F.D.A. have been lagging, and imported foods have been blamed for a number of outbreaks of illness.
Connect With Us on Twitter
For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
In recent months, for example, pomegranate seeds from Turkey used in a berry mix sickened more than 150 people across the country with hepatitis A, and cucumbers imported from Mexico were linked to an outbreak of salmonella that made 84 people in 18 states ill.
Some 15 percent of the food Americans eat is imported, more than double what it was a decade ago. That includes 50 percent of the fresh fruit and 20 percent of the fresh vegetables. The F.D.A. is able to inspect only a tiny percentage of these imports, less than 2 percent, at the point of entry.
The new rules would shift the primary burden for safety to the companies that import the food. They would have to verify that their foreign suppliers were achieving the same level of safety as domestic growers and processors. The companies have the motivation (to reassure worried consumers) and the resources to prevent contaminated foods from entering the country in the first place, rather than responding to problems after an outbreak.
The proposed rules had languished at the Office of Management and Budget until they were forced out by a court suit. The rules were praised by consumer groups and industry giants like Cargill. They, along with separate rules proposed in January for domestic producers, are open for comment for 120 days. Both should be given final approval.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Editorial: The Safety of Imported Foods
Dengan url
http://opinimasyarakota.blogspot.com/2013/08/editorial-safety-of-imported-foods.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Editorial: The Safety of Imported Foods
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Editorial: The Safety of Imported Foods
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar