Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have urged the federal government to act in response to a Brazilian investigation allegedly finding that more than 100 of the country's health inspectors allowed the sale of rancid meat, falsified export documents or failed to inspect meatpacking plants. Tester introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate purporting to temporarily ban Brazilian beef imports. "A 120-day ban will provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture time to comprehensively investigate food safety threats and to determine which Brazilian beef sources put American consumers [at] risk," Tester's March 21, 2017, press release asserts. In a March 22 press release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service announced additional pathogen testing of all raw beef and ready-to-eat products from Brazil. "Keeping food safe for American families is our top priority,” Acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mike Young was quoted as saying.…
Category Archives Issue 628
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a March 2017 report noting several oversight gaps in federal agencies’ efforts to track and curtail antibiotic use in food animals. According to GAO, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) have implemented several measures designed to reduce antibiotic resistance by increasing veterinary supervision of animal drug use; altering drug labeling guidance; and collecting data from food producers on their antibiotic regimens. But GAO notes that these initiatives fall short of the more stringent government regulations promulgated by Canada, Denmark and the European Union, which have reportedly achieved reductions in antibiotic use in food animals and improved data collection. “For example, changes to drug labels do not address longterm and openended use of antibiotics for disease prevention because some antibiotics do not define duration of use on their labels,” states GAO. “FDA officials told GAO they are seeking public…
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