FDA Could Hire Foreign Food Inspectors

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach told reporters yesterday that the agency will almost certainly increase its force of food safety inspectors, in part by boosting its presence in China and other foreign countries that export food to the United States.

A quick look at the numbers tells us why this move is long overdue:

• 80% -- Portion of the U.S. food supply that the Food and Drug Administration oversees.
• 625 -- Number of inspectors employed by the FDA.
• 7,600 -- Number of inspectors employed by the USDA, which monitors the other 20% of the U.S. food supply.
• 439,240 -- Number FDA-Registered food manufacturing facilities.
• 156,637 -- Number of registered domestic facilities, which the FDA acknowledged this week are subject to "inconsistent" food safety oversight by state regulators acting on FDA's behalf.
• 64% -- Portion of registered facilities located outside the United States.
• 176 -- Number of foreign countries that have registered food facilities.
• 1% -- Portion of food imports the FDA inspects.

For more detailed data on registered food facilities around the world, click here.

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