The Food and Drug Administration has not done enough to ensure that the produce Americans eat every day is safe for consumption, a new report claims.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the FDA does not devote enough money or health resources to ensure the safety of the food supply.
The report states that the FDA only inspects around 1 percent of imported produce each year, even though imports account for 60 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables sold in this country.
Approximately 3 percent of the agencys food safety dollars were devoted to fresh produce in 2007, the GAO says.
“FDA has no formal program devoted exclusively to fresh produce and has not consistently and reliably tracked its fresh produce spending,” the report states.
It suggests that the FDAs efforts to improve its measures for overseeing produce have been delayed because it has been forced to shift its attention toward counterterrorism and other competing demands.
Some 76 million people suffer from some type of foodborne illness each year, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.