China's safety efforts impress head of US food, drug agency
By Elaine Kurtenbach |
August 14, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE head of the Food and Drug Administration in the United States says China is improving its oversight of exporters following a slew of scandals over bogus or substandard products ranging from vaccines and baby formula to dog food.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said yesterday that Chinese officials she spoke to during her first visit to China since she was appointed were pursuing a "common agenda" to improve manufacturing practices and the regulation of complex supply chains in the food and drug industries.
"I leave feeling very encouraged by the partnership we've developed here," Hamburg said. "This is a priority for China as it is for the United States."
Since President Barack Obama appointed Hamburg last year, the FDA has taken swift action against companies selling bogus or dangerous products, seeking to restore its credibility. FDA officials say a skimpy budget and weak regulations keep them from going after companies that break the rules.
Hamburg, who has spent her career in public health, said the agency is focusing on prevention, given the complexity and enormity of the global supply chains for both food and drug products.
The FDA has set up offices in Shanghai and two other Chinese cities and is cooperating in training and joint inspections, among other areas.
More than 20 million imports of FDA-regulated products are expected this year, but typically less than 1 percent are inspected.
Earlier this year, the FDA began using an automated system to sort through millions of foreign shipments and identify the food and drugs most likely to be contaminated.
Still, relying on inspections is not enough in a 21st century of manufacturing by hundreds of thousands of factories around the world, Hamburg said.
Instead, the agency is working with other governments and international organizations to develop common standards, improve accountability and identify areas of vulnerability that should be targeted before problems arise, she said.
China's health ministry said recently it was looking into claims by parents that a brand of milk powder caused a small number of babies to grow breasts.
China's handling of problems such as contamination of dairy products with the industrial chemical melamine -- killing at least six children and sickening 300,000 -- shows it takes such issues seriously, Hamburg said.
As recently as July, Chinese authorities reported finding caches of melamine-laced dairy products in two provinces, saying they were trying to determine if they were newly tainted batches or those stockpiled before the discovery in 2008 that milk suppliers were watering down milk and then adding melamine to make its protein content appear higher.
"It is not a simple problem to eliminate in terms of the practice of bad actors who are willing to put human health at risk to make more money," Hamburg said.
"It is an area we are continuing to monitor very carefully."
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said yesterday that Chinese officials she spoke to during her first visit to China since she was appointed were pursuing a "common agenda" to improve manufacturing practices and the regulation of complex supply chains in the food and drug industries.
"I leave feeling very encouraged by the partnership we've developed here," Hamburg said. "This is a priority for China as it is for the United States."
Since President Barack Obama appointed Hamburg last year, the FDA has taken swift action against companies selling bogus or dangerous products, seeking to restore its credibility. FDA officials say a skimpy budget and weak regulations keep them from going after companies that break the rules.
Hamburg, who has spent her career in public health, said the agency is focusing on prevention, given the complexity and enormity of the global supply chains for both food and drug products.
The FDA has set up offices in Shanghai and two other Chinese cities and is cooperating in training and joint inspections, among other areas.
More than 20 million imports of FDA-regulated products are expected this year, but typically less than 1 percent are inspected.
Earlier this year, the FDA began using an automated system to sort through millions of foreign shipments and identify the food and drugs most likely to be contaminated.
Still, relying on inspections is not enough in a 21st century of manufacturing by hundreds of thousands of factories around the world, Hamburg said.
Instead, the agency is working with other governments and international organizations to develop common standards, improve accountability and identify areas of vulnerability that should be targeted before problems arise, she said.
China's health ministry said recently it was looking into claims by parents that a brand of milk powder caused a small number of babies to grow breasts.
China's handling of problems such as contamination of dairy products with the industrial chemical melamine -- killing at least six children and sickening 300,000 -- shows it takes such issues seriously, Hamburg said.
As recently as July, Chinese authorities reported finding caches of melamine-laced dairy products in two provinces, saying they were trying to determine if they were newly tainted batches or those stockpiled before the discovery in 2008 that milk suppliers were watering down milk and then adding melamine to make its protein content appear higher.
"It is not a simple problem to eliminate in terms of the practice of bad actors who are willing to put human health at risk to make more money," Hamburg said.
"It is an area we are continuing to monitor very carefully."
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