Experts See Gaps in Efforts to Guard U.S. Food Supply

9/18/2003 Experts See Gaps in Efforts to Guard U.S. Food Supply - 9/11 Des Moines Register

Two years later, the government has no idea which companies are following the guidelines. Why? Food inspectors were told not to keep records on company security measures. Federal officials say that terrorists could use the records to figure out which companies to attack.

"If you document the vulnerabilities that exist in the food supply and people have access to that, that's certainly not the point of this whole system," said Elsa Murano, the U.S. Agriculture Department's undersecretary for food safety.

Experts say there are still gaps in security of the nation's food supply, including the lack of information about what companies are doing to protect their products.

"The federal agencies just do not seem to have a handle on the extent of industry preparedness and what needs to be done to improve it," said Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Other concerns that have been raised: the relatively small amount of imported food that is inspected; lack of a livestock identification system to track animals from farm to farm and farm to slaughterhouse; inadequate supplies of vaccines and drugs for animal diseases.

A USDA advisory committee reported recently that the nation "is not adequately prepared at this time to respond effectively to the potential introduction of a highly infectious foreign animal disease or any other type of biological agent that might disrupt the food supply chain."

West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass, who led the panel, said the government needs to improve its labs and coordinate better with state and local agencies. "The threats of terrorism and disease are very real and will not go away."

The one known attack on the food supply occurred in 1984 when a cult group used salmonella bacteria to poison salad bars in some Oregon restaurants. Experts say that the effects of another attack could be far-reaching. For example, an outbreak of unintentional food poisoning traced to tainted ice cream infected 224,000 people in 1994.

Bush administration officials say they have made a lot of progress in improving food security:

" More inspectors have been hired to inspect imported products. Officials used a risk assessment to determine which foods and which facilities would be most vulnerable.

" Government agencies, including the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, have conducted at least a dozen simulation exercises to test their reaction to an attack on the food supply. One exercise, conducted a year ago under the name Crimson Sky, involved eight deputy secretaries across the government, including the departments of State, Defense and Interior.

" The FDA has proposed new rules for food processors and shippers that among other things allow the agency to seize tainted food and require that importers notify inspectors before bringing food into the country.

Federal agencies also have simulated terrorist incidents about a dozen times to test their ability to respond to an attack on the food supply. "We're more prepared, better prepared than on Sept. 11," said the USDA's Murano.

In addition, Iowa's congressional delegation has secured $281 million to expand the national animal disease complex in Ames. A National Research Council study last year warned that a food system attack would overwhelm existing lab resources.

Officials in the food industry say plants have taken steps to improve security. "We're more secure because our awareness has increased dramatically," said Rhona Applebaum, executive vice president of the National Food Processors Association.

The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, surveyed federal food inspectors to see how well companies were following the government's food security guidelines, and it found that small firms were less likely than large ones to implement measures.

The guidelines include a variety of recommendations covering everything from the screening of employees to lighting of facilities.

One-fourth of the FDA inspectors and half the USDA inspectors surveyed by GAO said they were satisfied with the security measures that processors had begun. USDA inspectors are responsible for plants that process meat. The FDA inspects everything else.

The food processors association, which represents companies such as Tyson's, Campbell Soup, Unilever and Del Monte, last year issued its own 51-page security manual that is more detailed than the government guidelines. At the request of companies, the manual is being revised to add more advice, Applebaum said.

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