Today’s Topic: Foreign Inspections

From 2018 to 2023, FDA averaged only 917 foreign inspections per year, drastically below the annual target of 19,200.

Quick bites from around the food safety arena this week

• Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to the Cyclospora parasite outbreak that has affected more than 6,000 people in at least 15 states. Both patients had underlying conditions, but the state health department attributed their deaths to dehydration from their Cyclospora infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are tracking multiple outbreaks of cyclosporiasis affecting at least 20,000 people. The CDC has not yet conclusively identified any specific sources of the infection.
• A study published in the journal Global Food Security found that households in the U.K. with children and those with a long term health condition are more than twice as likely to have started “dumpster diving” for discarded food. Usage of a food bank is also associated with this practice. The scientists who conducted the study urged greater attention to risks of foodborne illness from dumpster diving as well as better coordination of food redistribution and food waste handling.
• More than 300 confirmed cases of Salmonella Javiana infections have been linked to jalapeño peppers imported from Sinaloa, Mexico into the U.S. The outbreak caused Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba to stop serving the affected peppers, all of which originated from a single grower.
• The U.S. suspended inspections of avocados in the Mexican state of Michoacan this week. The cited reason is a non-specific threat to U.S. interests. More than 80% of the avocados consumed in the U.S. come from Mexico, the AP reports, so this move threatens the economic well-being of producers in Mexico as well as avocado supplies in the U.S. It highlights some of the challenges inherent in coordinating food safety standards across international borders.
• The death of a 13-year-old boy in Italy has spurred calls for better labeling on unpasteurized milk products such as raw cheese. Mattia Maestri contracted an E. coli infection from raw milk cheese in 2017. The infection led to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a several complication associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Mattia was in a come for nine years before his death. A proposal to mandate labels on unpasteurized milk products warning of health risks to children, pregnant women, the elderly and the immunocompromised is stalled in the Italian Parliament.

Today’s Topic: Foreign Inspections

Millions of those nasty Cyclospora parasites slipped over the border, but was anybody looking?

Damn few, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which warned the incoming administration on Jan. 8, 2025, that FDA inspections of food imports were almost non-existent.

The GAO report disclosed that the FDA has consistently fallen short of meeting its annual targets for foreign food facility inspections. During a six-year period from 2018 to 2023, FDA averaged only 917 foreign inspections per year.

“For foreign facility inspections, FDA conducted far fewer than the annual target of 19,200 inspections identified by FSMA, according to FDA data,” the GAO reported.