A series of new audits claim that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not using its relatively recently expanded authority to conduct more food safety inspections, which in turn affects how food recalls are announced to the public.
Three audits were conducted by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which is nestled within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office. The audits criticize how the FDA enforces food safety laws, despite being given more authority--and funding--via the Food Safety Modernization Act. According to the audits, the same food safety violations that occurred pre-FSMA are still taking place 7 years after the act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011.