(The Center Square) – A new watchdog report highlights ongoing issues with oversight of foodborne illness in the United States, and stresses the need for a national food safety strategy across multiple agencies due to fragmented federal oversight.
In 2024, the budget for the Food and Drug Administration was $7.2 billion, which included a $372 million increase from the previous year, of which $133 million went directly to improving food safety, supply chain continuity and addressing food contamination issues.
The report from the Government Accountability Office noted that foodborne illness has widespread economic consequences and costs Americans $75 billion annually. The high cost stems from medical expenses, lost productivity and food recalls.
The GAO report calls for a National Food Safety strategy to improve coordination across the FDA, the CDC, and the USDA.
Since 2007, the GAO has placed federal food and safety oversight on its High-Risk List, a list of government programs that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, or significant mismanagement. The issue of the fragmented structure of food safety oversight, which is split across a dozen agencies, has led to gaps in regulation, inconsistent enforcement, and delays when responding to foodborne illness outbreaks.
Despite the repeated recommendations to streamline the responsibilities between the agencies, progress has been slow.
The GAO has made numerous recommendations to fix fragmentation, improve collaboration, and identify capacity needs across food safety agencies. As of January 2025, six of the recommendations and five congressional matters remain unaddressed, which the GAO considers “essential” for removing federal food oversight from the High-Risk List.
Foodborne illness, also known as food poisoning, happens when people eat contaminated food caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or toxins.
According to the report, foodborne illnesses have declined in reported cases since 1999, but differences in tracking methods make direct comparisons difficult.
The CDC estimates that annually, about 48 million Americans suffer from foodborne diseases, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.
The GAO recommended in 2017 that the Executive Office of the President develop a national strategy to streamline federal food oversight. According to officials from the Office of Management and Budget, as of January 2025, there are still no plans to implement such a strategy.
In January, a recall on broccoli sold at Walmart was issued, and shortly before then, an E.coli outbreak was linked to McDonald’s onions in late 2024, making dozens sick and leading to one death.
