Sécurité alimentaire : Enjeux, ruptures et réglementations en question

WASHINGTON – 09 Mai 2024 –

la sécurité alimentaire aux États-Unis est menacée par une série de décisions controversées. Qui ? Des experts, des consommateurs et des anciens fonctionnaires alertent sur une baisse de la vigilance. Quoi ? Suppression de mesures de sécurité, non-divulgation de sources d’épidémies et démantèlement d’unités de contrôle. Où ? Principalement aux États-Unis. Quand ? Ces dernières années. Pourquoi ? Pour des raisons de politiques anti-réglementaires. Des experts de la santé publique craignent de graves conséquences, et appellent à une plus grande transparence pour garantir la sécurité alimentaire ; pour en savoir plus, lisez la suite.

Here’s a rewritten version of the article, focusing on clarity, conciseness, and impact:

Food Safety under scrutiny: Outbreaks, Regulations, and Concerns

When 9-year-old Colton George complained of a stomach ache and couldn’t finish his basketball game, his parents thought it was a minor illness. Days later, he was fighting for his life in a hospital, the victim of tainted salad.Colton’s case is part of a larger, largely unpublicized E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce that killed one person and sickened nearly 90 across 15 states last fall. A lawsuit has been filed against the lettuce grower. While federal health agencies traced the outbreak to a specific farm and processor, the Trump administration, in a move considered unusual by experts, chose not to publicly disclose the source, citing that no product remained on the market.

This lack of openness is raising concerns about the current administration’s approach to food safety.Consumer advocates, researchers, and former FDA and USDA employees are warning that a combination of anti-regulatory policies, cost-cutting measures, and personnel changes are weakening the system designed to protect the U.S. food supply.

Specifically, critics point to:

Failure to Publicize Outbreaks: The decision not to name the source of the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak.
Scaling Back Safety Measures: The withdrawal of a proposed regulation to reduce salmonella in raw poultry, a move projected to prevent over 3,000 illnesses annually.* Disbanding Enforcement Units: The dismantling of a Justice Department unit responsible for prosecuting companies selling contaminated food.

While officials from the Department of Health and Human Services maintain that food safety remains a priority, and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary argues that recent job cuts won’t impact agency operations, public health advocates are skeptical. They fear that reduced oversight will lead to fewer consequences for companies selling tainted products.

“They need the DOJ to enforce the law,” said Sarah Sorscher,director of regulatory affairs at the Center for science in the Public Interest. “For an executive investing in food safety, the knowledge they could go to jail if they don’t is a really strong motivator.”

Adding to the concerns,federal regulators are reportedly pushing for states to conduct more inspections,despite concerns that states lack the necessary resources.

Rep. Shontel M. Brown (D-Ohio) stated, “Handing that duty to state and local agencies is really troubling. They don’t have the resources, and it creates a potentially unsafe situation that puts families in Ohio and America at risk.”

The stakes are high. Foodborne illnesses already exact a significant economic toll,costing an estimated $75 billion in 2023 due to deaths,chronic illness,medical treatment,and lost productivity. The CDC estimates that each year, 48 million Americans get sick from contaminated food, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.

Other recent actions raising eyebrows include the suspension of a program ensuring the accuracy of food-testing labs and a delay in implementing a rule designed to expedite the removal of contaminated food from the market.while the FDA has announced plans to expand unannounced inspections of foreign food manufacturers, some experts question the feasibility of this approach, citing visa requirements that could alert companies in advance.A January report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office revealed that the FDA has consistently failed to meet its inspection targets for both domestic and foreign food facilities since 2018.

The consequences of these shortcomings can be severe. recent outbreaks of Listeria in cucumbers and Salmonella in peanut butter have demonstrated the potential for widespread illness and hospitalization.

The debate over food safety regulations and enforcement continues, with public health advocates urging greater vigilance and transparency to protect consumers from the dangers of contaminated food.