NEW YORK — Routine food inspections aren’t getting done because of the partial government shutdown, but checks of the riskiest foods are expected to resume next week, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency can’t make the case that “a routine inspection of a Nabisco cracker facility” is necessary during the shutdown, however. Gottlieb said FDA inspections would have ramped up this week for the first time since the holidays, so the lapse in inspections of high-risk foods will not be significant if they resume soon. The FDA conducts about 8,400 domestic inspections a year, or an average of 160 a week, Gottlieb said. Sarah Sorscher, deputy director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the FDA’s short-term lapse in routine food inspections isn’t a cause for worry, but will be if the shutdown continues.

Source: National Post January 09, 2019 23:15 UTC