Source of many foods difficult to trace, says DHHS study

Only five of 40 food products purchased for a study on food safety could be traced through each stage of the food supply chain back to the farm or border, according to a study released recently by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, said Daniel Levinson, DHHS Inspector General, more than half of the food facilities contacted by investigators failed to meet the Food and Drug Administration's record keeping requirements and one in four were not aware that they were supposed to keep records about their sources, recipients and transporters of food.

In the study, investigators selected 10 different products and purchased them at stores in four cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. The foods on the list were: bottled water, bagged ice, whole milk, a carton of eggs, plain yogurt, unbleached flour, plain oatmeal, fresh tomatoes, fruit juice and a bag of fresh-cut leaf vegetables.

The investigators asked the retailers to identify the source of the food product and the transporter from which the retailer received the food product. To continue the traceability exercise, they contacted the facility that the retailer identified as the source. The investigators continued moving backward through the food supply chain until they reached the farm, the border, or a dead end.

Of the 40 products, the investigators could trace only five through each stage of the food supply chain. For 31 of the 40 products they were able to identify facilities that "likely" handled the products but poor record keeping prevented pinpointing the exact route. For the remaining four products, investigators could not identify the facilities that handled the food.

The report said the factors that prevented them from tracing the food are the same ones that hamper the FDA when it is trying to identify the source of a foodborne illness outbreak such as recent ones involving peanuts and peppers. The factors include:

• Processors, packers and manufacturers not maintaining lot-specific information, which is required;
• Other facilities in the chain not maintaining lot-specific information, because it's not required;
• Retailers receiving products not labeled with lot-specific information; and
• The mixing of products from a large number of farms.

The report concluded that the FDA should seek more authority to improve traceability and require better record keeping, among other food safety recommendations.

At Consumers Union, we've been advocating in favor of food traceability for quite some time. In November, Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives, testified at an FDA hearing and asked for better labeling, record keeping and enforcement. "Recent events have taken a serious toll on consumer confidence in the food supply. Concerns about contaminants and the safety of imported food are very high," she said. Citing a CU poll, she said "Ninety-seven percent [of respondents] agree with the statement 'When food safety problems arise, the government should be able to quickly and accurately trace food from production to sale.'"

The urgency to do so has only grown since the onset of the current peanut-related salmonella outbreak. CU supports a number of bills introduced in Congress to upgrade the nation's food safety system.