Food Safety and Quality: Who Does What in the Federal Government, Volume 1

Abstract

The fragmented, complex federal food safety and quality regulatory system consists of as many as 35 different laws and involves 12 federal agencies. Of the 12 agencies, 6 have the major roles in carrying out food safety and quality activities. They are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Collectively, these agencies are responsible for assuring the consumer that foods are pure and wholesome, safe to eat, and produced under sanitary conditions. In fiscal year 1989 these six agencies devoted over $800 million and almost 17,000 staff years to their food safety and quality activities. FDA and USDA together had about 92 percent of the funding and about 95 percent of the staffing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA267352

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agriculture
  • Animal Diseases
  • Animals
  • Commerce
  • Contamination
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Food Safety
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Medical Personnel
  • Monitoring
  • Pesticides
  • Public Health
  • Standards
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Agricultural and Food sciences

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Industrial Economics