Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) efforts to remove adulterated food products from the market and attempted to determine whether FDA needs additional authority to carry out its mission. GAO reviewed food recalls, food seizures, and prosecution actions carried out by FDA from 1980 to 1982.

GAO found that, while FDA is authorized to seize adulterated foods, it is not authorized to detain such products while seizure actions are being processed by FDA and the Justice Department. FDA frequently requests states to detain adulterated foods or requests firms to voluntarily hold food products. However, GAO found several instances where products were unavailable for seizure by the time seizure actions were processed. GAO believes that: (1) if FDA had detention authority over adulterated foods, similar to its authority over medical devices, it could prevent greater amounts of adulterated foods from reaching the market; and (2) FDA could more easily remove adulterated foods from the market if it had the authority to review food manufacturers' production and distribution records. GAO also found that: (1) FDA could hasten the seizure process by eliminating several levels of review within FDA; (2) FDA has not adequately monitored recalled foods to ensure that recalled products are reconditioned; and (3) fines assessed for violations of federal laws pertaining to adulterated foods are relatively small.