FDA Inspects Only 2% of Food Imports, Prompting Food Safety Concerns

EMSL Analytical, Inc. offers food testing services to companies and the public

WEBWIRE – Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it rejected 16,000 food-related shipments out of more than 10 million that arrived in the United States.

However, FDA inspectors physically examined 2.06 percent of all food-related imports, and its Office of Regulatory Affairs expects that only 1.59 percent of all food imports will be examined this year and 1.47 percent next year.

According to an MSNBC article about the situation, the reason that so many shipments go unchecked is the low number (currently 1,800) of FDA investigators, compared to the skyrocketing number of new imports each year. The FDA is anticipating 24 million shipments in 2011—a huge increase from the 6 million they received a decade ago.

Critics, such as the U.S. Government Accountability Office, charge that the FDA is not doing an adequate job of checking the imports.

“For companies that have a product detained at a port by the FDA, we provide testing services as part of our comprehensive FDA Import Detention program,” states Joseph Frasca, Senior VP of Marketing at EMSL. “We offer a wide variety of tests, including those analyzing food products’ allergens, authenticity, chemistry, microbiology, mycotoxins, nutritional content for labeling, and shelf life.”

For more information on EMSL’s testing services, please contact EMSL at (800) 220-3675, visit www.EMSL.com, or www.FoodTestingLab.com.

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical Inc. is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider of consumer product, environmental, industrial hygiene, food and materials testing services to professionals and the general public. In addition, the company offers a large variety of air sampling equipment, sampling cassettes and monitoring equipment. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies including, but not limited to AIHA IHLAP, AIHA EMLAP, AIHA ELLAP, A2LA, NVLAP, CDC Elite, CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), CA ELAP, NY ELAP, TX Department of State Health Services, and multiple other state accrediting agencies. Please visit our website for a complete listing of accreditations.