FDA head pushes for mandated lead testing by food manufacturers

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would require food manufacturers to test for lead in products imported into the country from overseas.

Mr. Califf’s call to action came during Thursday’s hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which is investigating the FDA’s response to the infant formula shortage. ) was uttered while answering the question. Drug shortages and food safety.

Part of the hearing addressed the agency’s response to lead-tainted applesauce pouches, and Khalif called for legislation as a way to address the problem.

“So you’re advocating for mandatory testing and you want to give us the power to regulate it,” Raskin asked.

“Yes,” replied the Caliph.

“What we can do, for example in children’s food, is require manufacturers to test,” he continued.

The FDA ordered six brands of powdered cinnamon spice in March, just months after the FDA announced that Florida-based Wannabana USA had voluntarily recalled three brands of applesauce last fall due to elevated lead levels. found an increase in lead concentrations. The pouch was manufactured and imported from Ecuador.

The FDA commissioner said the agency oversees approximately 275,000 registered manufacturing “facilities” domestically and internationally, but typically does not rely on those manufacturers to perform their own inspections because “we do not have an unlimited budget.” He said he would not get it.

“In the case of cinnamon applesauce, if testing had been required, the store that sold it when it was imported into the United States from Ecuador probably would have taken it back at that time,” Khalif said. said Thursday.

“And those children got lead poisoning, right?” Ruskin asked, and the Caliph confirmed it.

The agency tracks lead levels in foods, but the U.S. government does not limit the levels that can be found in products.

In January, a bipartisan group of lawmakers demanded clarification from the FDA about lead and chromium contamination in applesauce pouches. The brief also asked them to discuss whether the contamination was intentional.