CSPI Expresses Concern Over Failure to Post Public Notices Over Recalled Food

25 Aug 2016 --- The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has written to the FDA expressing concern over a failure to enforce grocery chains to post public notices when food is recalled.

The letter to FDA commissioners Stephen Ostroff follows research carried out by the CSPI, the campaigning group, which found that at least one supermarket, Giant Eagle, does not post such a notice where it customers could see it, after carrying out research among supermarkets.

The CSPI surveyed 32 US grocers including Walmart, Kroger and Safeway and found that some leading grocers including Whole Foods and Aldi did not disclose their policy over recalled food.

Though most chains that answered CSPI’s question do post notices, their placement varied, with some posted at entrances, some at cash registers, and some where the recalled product had been shelved.

The Food Safety Modernization Act requires the Food and Drug Administration, using information from producers, to prepare recall notices that grocery chains larger than 15 stores would post in conspicuous locations for 14 days.

According to the CSPI, more than five years after the introduction of the law, and more than three years after the statutory deadline for implementation, the system is not yet in place.

CSPI senior food safety attorney David W Plunkett said: "“There’s no fool-proof approach, but in-store notification of recalled foods should be one of several overlapping systems aimed at helping Americans reduce their 
risk of eating contaminated food.”

“Supermarkets are clearly doing an uneven job, and the FDA is taking far too long to implement the notification system that the law requires.”