Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors

A survey of over 1,700 FDA and USDA employees reveals significant political and corporate interference in food safety science, with many respondents reporting the suppression of technical data and inadequate resources, particularly at the FDA. The report argues for legislative reforms to mandate recalls and increase surveillance of imported foods, which were identified as the least secure category of the food supply.

• A significant portion of surveyed food safety employees reported that corporate and political interests have negatively impacted public health and agency policy. Specifically, 38 percent agreed or strongly agreed that "public health has been harmed by agency practices that defer to business interests," and 27 percent experienced instances where businesses withheld food safety information from investigators.
• Political interference in scientific work is prevalent at both the FDA and USDA. Approximately 34 percent of respondents experienced political interference in the past year, with 10 percent reporting requests to "inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or conclusions in an agency scientific document" and 16 percent experiencing the "selective or incomplete use of data to justify a specific regulatory outcome."
• Resource adequacy varies significantly between the two agencies. Only 39 percent of FDA respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their agency has "sufficient resources to effectively perform its mission," whereas 67 percent of USDA respondents agreed or strongly agreed with that statement.
• Confidence in food safety varies by product type, with imported foods being the least trusted. Only 35 percent of respondents were "Completely or Mostly Confident" in the safety of imported foods, compared to 75 percent for meat and poultry.
• The report recommends that Congress update food safety laws to grant the FDA and USDA authority to mandate food recalls, establish science-based pathogen detection, require more disclosure from manufacturers, and increase surveillance of food imports.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2010). Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/voices-food-safety-scientists-inspectors.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors. 2010. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/voices-food-safety-scientists-inspectors.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors |date=September 2010 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/voices-food-safety-scientists-inspectors.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2010voices, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Voices of Federal Food Safety Scientists and Inspectors}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/voices-food-safety-scientists-inspectors.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }