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Thursday, March 13, 2008

FDA Uncovers Violations but Takes No Action

Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode where a rental car agency tells Jerry that they don't have a car reserved for him even though he made a reservation? He scolds the agent saying, "You know how to take the reservation; you just don't know how to hold the reservation, and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take 'em."

Apparently, that's kind of how FDA approaches spinach inspections. The Washington Post reports:

Since 2001, nearly half of all federal inspections of facilities that package fresh spinach revealed serious sanitary problems, but the Food and Drug Administration did not take "meaningful" enforcement action, a House committee report released yesterday found…

The FDA did not refer any of the problem facilities to its internal enforcement authorities, nor did the agency send warning letters or seek injunctions.

The investigation, conducted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, can be found here.