Job cuts at U.S. FDA raise red flags over safety of food imports to Canada

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As the Trump administration cuts thousands of jobs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, industry experts are urging Canada’s food safety agency to raise its risk assessment for U.S. imports and subject them to more inspection.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – which oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – has eliminated 3,500 jobs at the agency since President Donald Trump took office in January. The FDA is responsible for the safety of nearly 80 per cent of the food produced in the United States.

The result has been fewer inspections and less oversight, compromising the agency’s ability to ensure the safety of the country’s food chain. And this weaker FDA has implications for the safety of Canada’s food supply, too, experts say.

“With the dismantling of the U.S. food safety system, I think Canadians might be exposed to a higher level of risk,” said Wendy Hulton, a product regulatory lawyer at Dickinson Wright who has provided counsel on numerous product recalls and food contamination cases.

Canada and the U.S. have long benefited from a system that recognizes each other’s food safety standards, helping to smooth the process of importing and exporting products. Altering this system requires time and consultation – an approach that is at odds with the rapid pace of change happening under the Trump administration, Ms. Hulton said.

“I would be screaming and pulling my hair out if I was the Canadian Food Inspection Agency right now,” she said.

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Job reductions have cut a wide swath through the FDA, including communications specialists and those who manage the travel logistics of inspectors, and staff who handle some bird flu contamination cases.

A government hiring freeze also stalled the agency’s ability to replace a number of food safety inspectors who left because of the administration’s policies. One in five jobs lay vacant in the inspection division at the start of June, according to CBS News.

While some of the layoffs have been reversed, the moves have caused alarm among food safety experts. The former commissioner of the FDA said on LinkedIn that “The FDA as we‘ve known it is finished,” and the Center for Science in the Public Interest has said the sweeping cuts could be “devastating to the public’s health.”

The U.S. is Canada’s largest food trading partner, accounting for half of imports. U.S. food importers also benefit from a privileged status. In 2016, the CFIA and the FDA signed a recognition agreement that acknowledges that both countries have comparable food safety systems. The U.S. is the only country to have such an arrangement with Canada.

This means U.S. imports are less likely to be flagged for inspection by the CFIA’s risk-based import inspection model, said Dr. Lawrence Goodridge, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at the University of Guelph.

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Changes to the FDA should drive the CFIA to reconsider the risk status of U.S. foods, said Dr. Goodridge.

“We have been overly reliant on the U.S. for far too long,” he said. “We need to get to a point where we treat the U.S. like we treat other countries.”

When asked if the CFIA was reconsidering its U.S. risk assessment, Dr. Parthi Muthukumarasamy, executive director of the International Programs Directorate, said the agency regularly tracks all importer countries and believes its U.S. oversight measures to be appropriate.

Rambod Behboodi, a lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP who specializes in international trade, including export controls and agricultural trade, said he is not surprised that the CFIA is not making changes.

To alter how imports are treated, the CFIA needs evidence that the changes at the FDA are resulting in outbreaks of food-related illnesses. Given the interconnected nature of the two countries’ food systems, a disruption to imports without evidence would be unwarranted, Mr. Behboodi said.

“You don’t simply react to headlines,” he said. “That’s not how food safety or world trade works … you must keep your head, especially when others are being reckless.”

Mr. Behboodi pointed out that U.S. food safety is also under the purview of individual states, many of which have their own food inspection programs.

Canadian retailers also have industry-led food safety systems, said Gary Sands, senior vice-president at the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.

“Every store, whether they are a chain grocer or an independent grocer can augment or enhance their food safety practices and protocols – and many do.”

Fresh produce importers also use private testing and labs to ensure their product is safe for consumption, said Vince Carpino, an Ontario importer and distributor of fresh produce. This is in the businesses’ best interests, he said.

“They don’t want recalls,” he said. “Nobody is looking for that headache.”