Summary

In May of 1975, GAO issued a report concerning potentially unwholesome and unsafe food sold by food salvage operations in predominantly poor neighborhoods nationwide. GAO recommended several ways that federal agencies responsible for the safety of foods sold to the public could better control and monitor food operations. Because of the severity and magnitude of the problems discussed in the 1975 report, a followup survey was conducted to determine whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had progressed in regulating the food salvage industry.

No improvement has been seen in the deplorable conditions or the questionable quality of products sold in salvage operations. A majority of the operations visited bought and sold food that was vermin infested or in rusted, leaking, severely dented, swollen, or filth encrusted containers. In many cases, the food products were in containers with missing, misleading, or incomplete labels thereby presenting a threat to people on special diets for such reasons as illness or allergies. In addition, FDA has not developed federal regulations establishing a nationally uniform code for salvage operations and has not established an effective regulatory program to prevent the sale of misbranded and potentially adulterated or potentially unsafe salvaged food to the public and institutions.