White House: Sequester Ugly Scenario For FDA, Food Safety

WASHINGTONAcross-theboard spending cuts scheduled to take place next month could result in fewer food inspections, require slaughterhouse plant closures and potentially lead to higher prices for meat and poultry, the federal government has warned.

The White House cautioned that Americans could suffer more foodborne illnesses if the so-called sequester takes place March 1, triggering $85 billion in spending cuts.

There may be 2,100 fewer food inspections at domestic and foreign facilities, the White House stated in a recent memo, potentially hamstringing the ability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Should the sequester take effect, FDA would lose about $65 million in funding for food programs alone, Steven Grossman, deputy executive director of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, told Food Product Design last month.

FDA also estimates its import line inspection rate would plunge 24% in 2013 versus 2011 at a time when food imports are on the rise, according to a study conducted by Democrats in the House Appropriations Committee. Limiting the agency's funding growth to 2% a year would jeopardize FDA's ability to maintain its already minuscule inspection rate of imported foods, lawmakers warned. FDA often rejects produce and seafood at U.S. borders because it is potentially harmful to human health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently warned that Congress' failure to act before March 1 would force a national shutdown of meat and poultry plants while inspection personnel are placed on furlough for two weeks.

"Consumers would experience limited meat and poultry supplies, and potentially higher prices," USDA stated in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

USDA said its operating budget already has been cut by roughly $3 billion or 12% since fiscal year 2010. Under the sequester, its funding would be reduced by nearly $2 billion in fiscal year 2013, according to the letter.

With just days remaining before the sequester takes effect, the odds that Congress and the White House can negotiate an alternative proposal appears to be increasingly unlikely. Republicans and the Obama Administration continue to bicker over taxes and spending cuts.