WASHINGTON – Even as the problem of foodborne disease continues to grow, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's national operations lack "a systematic focus on prevention," according to a new report issued yesterday by the Institute of Medicine.

“Foodborne diseases cause significant suffering, so it's imperative that our food safety system functions effectively at all levels," said Robert Wallace, a professor at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health and one of the authors of the report.

The FDA is charged with overseeing the safety of 80 percent of the nation's food supply and the study is the latest to conclude the agency needs major reforms.

76 million cases annually
There are 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses each year, sending more than 300,000 people to the hospital and 5,000 to the grave, according to another recent report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The inspector general’s report found that more than 56 percent of domestic food manufacturers have gone five or more years without a federal inspection. It also said, under current law, regulators can inspect only a small fraction of the foreign firms that ship food to the U.S.

Concerned by such findings, the House passed new food safety legislation last year and the Senate is expected to finalize and pass its own version in the next few weeks.

Rash of contaminated food incidents
A rash of outbreaks of sickness and deaths from contaminated peanut butter, spinach, cookie dough, jalapeno peppers and other foods has made consumers jittery about grocery shopping and prompted President Barack Obama to make enhanced food safety a White House priority.

Commissioned by Congress in 2008 to recommend reforms of the FDA, the Institute of Medicine report says the agency needs to better allocate its resources. It recommended the creation of national food safety standards whose implementation could be delegated to state health and agriculture officials in order to conserve FDA resources.

The Institute's report also recommended the FDA use a risk-based approach to food safety, focusing on the foods that carry the highest danger of contamination.

Salmonella and other deadly organisms
The most dangerous food contaminants are deadly bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and the micro-organisms that cause botulism.

Food safety advocates say years of shrinking FDA budgets, resulting in fewer inspections and enforcement actions, is to blame.

The inspector general’s report said the number of food manufacturing firms where FDA inspectors found potential violations dropped from 614 in 2004 to 283 in 2008.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, would give the federal government authority to order food recalls when a company fails to voluntarily recall unsafe products. Under current law, recall decisions are solely left up to private companies.

Bill's proposed measures
The food safety bill would also:

- Give the FDA expanded access to food facility records if there’s evidence its products are a health threat

- Expand food facility registration requirements and inspections

- Give the FDA authority to set new standards for produce safety

- Require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Education Department to develop food allergy guidelines for schools

- Toughen food safety regulations for imported food

While the House and Senate food safety bills would give the FDA more muscle -- and expand the agency’s staff – the legislation would do nothing to change the way meat, poultry and egg producers are regulated. That’s because those industries are chiefly regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the FDA.

Letting the USDA slide
Jean Halloran, director of Consumers Union's food safety campaign, said it would have been bad politics to write a more ambitious bill that would have also reformed USDA food safety rules.

“Everyone decided early on that if you tried to do both, you probably would get nothing,” Halloran said.

She said the most important thing in the food safety bill is that it requires yearly inspections of food processing facilities deemed “high risk” by the FDA.

Supporters of the bill are a rare coalition of consumer advocates, like Halloran, and food manufacturers, who are weary of costly food safety crises.

Unusual legislative allies
“We have a bill that’s supported by the Consumer Federation of American and the Groceries Manufacturers of America, and those two don’t hardly agree on anything,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a main sponsor of the bill.

But that coalition may break down.

During Senate debate on the bill, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wants to introduce an amendment that would restrict the use of the chemical Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food and beverage containers.

BPA and birth defects
Some health studies have linked BPA to birth defects and heightened risks of diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

But the Grocery Manufacturers of America says BPA is safe in canned foods. The GMA, and other industry groups, would drop their support of the bill if BPA restrictions are included in the bill.

Organic farmers and owners of other small farms also want to be exempted from some of the bill’s new regulations. That would also erode support for the legislation.

If the Senate approves the food safety bill, it would have to be reconciled with the House-passed bill, which would impose a new $500 fee to all food producers.