Food Safety and Quality. Uniform, Risk-Based Inspection System Needed to EnsureSafe Food Supply

摘要

The federal government spends about $1 billion a year to ensure the safety andquality of an estimated 275 billion meals that the nation consumes each year. This effort is achieved through a fragmentary, complex regulatory system consisting of as many as 35 different laws and involving 12 agencies. Concerned about the effectiveness of the federal food safety inspection system, the Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, asked GAO to determine if (1) food inspection systems are logical and consistent, (2) agencies are efficiently using federal resources for inspection, and (3) agencies are effectively coordinating their food safety and quality inspection efforts.