United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-06-12 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-909T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T P0b002ee18039e0c0 f:d08909t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T GAO-08-909T Consumer protection Contaminated foods E. coli O157:H7 Food and drug legislation Food industry Food inspection Food safety Food supply Program evaluation Proposed legislation Public health Risk assessment Safety regulation Safety standards Salmonellosis Strategic planning Program implementation FDA Food Protection Plan GAO High Risk Series Testimony A82341 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, including $417 billion worth of domestic food and $49 billion in imported food annually. Changing demographics and consumption patterns along with an increase in imports have presented challenges to FDA. At the same time, recent outbreaks, such as E. coli from spinach and Salmonella from tomatoes, have undermined consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply. In November 2007, FDA released its Food Protection Plan, which articulates a framework for improving food safety oversight. In January 2008, GAO expressed concerns about FDA's capacity to implement the Food Protection Plan and noted that more specific information about the strategies and resources needed to implement the plan would facilitate congressional oversight. This testimony focuses on (1) FDA's progress in implementing the Food Protection Plan, (2) FDA's proposal to focus inspections based on risk, and (3) FDA's implementation of previously issued GAO recommendations intended to improve food safety oversight. To address these issues, GAO reviewed FDA documents, such as FDA's operations plan, and FDA data related to the plan. GAO also interviewed FDA officials regarding the progress made. GAO also analyzed FDA data on domestic and foreign food firm inspections. GAO also analyzed the status of past recommendations. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T.pdf GAO-08-909T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-909T Testimony GAO-08-909T; Federal Oversight of Food Safety: FDA Has Provided Few Details on the Resources and Strategies Needed to Implement its Food Protection Plan; Consumer protection Contaminated foods E. coli O157:H7 Food and drug legislation Food industry Food inspection Food safety Food supply Program evaluation Proposed legislation Public health Risk assessment Safety regulation Safety standards Salmonellosis Strategic planning Program implementation FDA Food Protection Plan GAO High Risk Series