Tomato farm

The resources of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been strained almost to the breaking point as the agency tries to respond effectively to the outbreak of a rare Salmonella strain that has affected at least 167 people in 17 states.

The FDA still has been unable to trace the source of the tomatoes responsible for the current outbreak. The first confirmed case of Salmonella illness came out on April 16 and the last on May 26. Up to now, the FDA suspects that tomatoes from farms in some central Florida counties and imports from Mexico are the source of the contamination but nothing is certain yet.

What is known is that some Florida counties — notably Dade, Collier and Manatee, which together account for up to 35% of Florida’s tomato output — have not been cleared.

For the beleaguered employees of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the ongoing outbreak only provides evidence of the agency’s lack of funds, critical equipment, and people that has persisted for several years.

The food safety net continues to operate largely because agency personnel possess a solid sense of mission and sacrifice. FDA employees have been willing to use their personal credit cards to purchase suspect products for testing. They voluntarily cut vacations short or work the whole night to respond to emergencies, which in recent months has become chronic.

For years, agency personnel have not been given sufficient resources to implement their plans for preventing food crises before these actually happen. In 2007, the FDA submitted proposals to impose new safety regulations on produce; the Bush Administration did not approve the request.

Work has piled up in recent years. For example, the agency has been tasked to improve the system for nutrition labeling, for inspecting the rising volumes of food imports and for regulating dietary supplements. But about one-third of its food safety inspectors and field staffers have left the agency since 2004, and more employees are nearing retirement age.

The current FDA situation is very tight indeed, according to its officials. Realizing this, the Bush Administration requested on June 9 another $125 million in increased funding for food safety in 2009.

A science advisory group to the FDA has come out with a report saying that the agency cannot meet current or emerging regulatory needs. It also does not have the manpower and technological capacity to fully secure the nation’s food supply. To strengthen the FDA, the group recommends its budget be increased by $755 million in total by 2013.

The U.S. Congress has so far been reluctant to approve funding for the FDA’s food safety plan, saying the agency needs to provide more details on timetables and financial estimates.