Some FDA Inspectors Called to Work During Shutdown

In a series of tweets, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced that about 200 food investigators—of 550—for the agency’s Office of Human and Animal Food Operations have been working during the federal government’s partial shutdown, with additional staff possibly “on the way depending on needs.” Gottlieb further noted which food operations have continued during the shutdown: (i) “[h]igh-risk domestic food surveillance inspections”; (ii) “foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigations”; (iii) “[e]xecution of high-risk food recalls”; (iv) “[i]nspection of foreign food facilities”; and (v) “[s]ampling of imported food samples (including sampling for antibiotic residue contamination and decomposition analysis.” High-risk foods reportedly include seafood, dairy, fresh produce, spices, eggs, sandwiches and infant formula.