New Bill Threatens Food Pathogen Screening Program

By Mike Rozembajgier

A spending bill approved by the House last month would cut all funding for the government’s Microbiological Data Program (MDP), the only national program that regularly screens fruits and vegetables for dangerous pathogens. If the bill passes the Senate, the food industry would see a shift in the oversight and recall management of contaminated food supplies.

The MDP, which tests more than 15,000 produce samples every year, was originally established as a monitoring program for the collection of information regarding the incidence and species of pathogens found on imported and domestic food supplies. Run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), it has since served as a sort of supplementary oversight resource for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has issued 19 product recalls based on the program’s findings over the past two years.

But some influential lawmakers believe that the program largely duplicates other similar screening programs. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee sent Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack a memo expressing their concern over “unnecessary recalls” triggered by the MDP’s review of single samples of contaminated products. The committee of food industry representatives urged Secretary Vilsack to find a better use for the funds allocated to the screening program.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, David Gombas of United Fresh Produce, an important industry association, explained that “over time [the MDP] got twisted and it turned into a regulatory program where they were finding contamination and turning it over to the FDA and causing recalls.”

Meanwhile, other critics maintain that screening programs run by the FDA are not enough. They point, for example, that among the pathogens for which the MDP screens is the strain of E. coli that caused widespread panic and dozens of deaths across Europe over the past several months. The FDA does not perform similar checks for that strain of E. coli.

A recent Grist article finds the complex relationship between the USDA and its screening programs at least partly to blame. “One of the industry’s objections is that the MDP is run by the USDA’s marketing service, the arm of the agency responsible for promoting U.S. agricultural products,” notes food and agriculture policy writer Tom Laskawy. “While the program was partly intended to demonstrate the safety of American produce, there’s no denying that it’s now used as part of U.S. food safety enforcement protocol.”

If the spending bill is approved by the Senate and the MDP is shut down, the food industry will have to prepare for significant shifts in food supply oversight. The FDA, already stretched in regulatory responsibility, will likely increase its oversight role in order to fill the gap left by the MDP. As always, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers should keep up with new developments in the regulatory agencies that are charged with making sure the nation’s food supply meets the highest safety standards. In case a recall is required, every company in the supply chain should be armed with a recall management plan – practiced and ready to launch at a moment’s notice.

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