USDA IG Concerned about Monitoring of Drugs, Pesticides and Heavy Metal Residues in Meat
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Office of Inspector General (IG) has released a report, which finds that the federal government’s “national residue program is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for harmful residues” of veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals. According to the report, federal agencies have failed to establish thresholds for “dangerous substances” such as copper or dioxin, an omission that “has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce.” The IG also found that USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is responsible for the national residue program, “does not attempt to recall meat, even when its tests have confirmed the presence of veterinary drugs.”
Among other matters, the report calls for (i) better coordination among FSIS, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration; (ii) an expansion of the substances these agencies test for; (iii) improvements to the methodology for sampling hazardous residues; (iv) the development of more efficient ways to approve newer methods of testing for drug residues; (v) the establishment of tolerances for additional potentially harmful substances; and (vi) the development of plans, policies and procedures to address the problem in slaughter facilities, ranging from the implementation of appropriate controls to preventing the release of potentially adulterated products before residue tests are confirmed.
