The European Court of Auditors, after reviewing management of conflicts of interest, has decided that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is not handling them too well.
EFSA is currently involved in a conflict with Gilles-Eric Seralini, a French scientist, who allegedly found a strong connection between cancerous tumors and Monsanto's genetically modified corn, after studying the effects of GM food on rats. The food safety authority slammed the study by saying that the methodology involved is unscientific. EFSA has requested Seralini to reveal the full details of the steps involved in the study. Seralini has refused to provide the information.
The authority has been widely criticized for its attitude towards the Seralini study and other interests which may compromise the food industry in the EU. The authority consented to let GMO food be grown in the EU, without taking into consideration the people's opposition to the idea. This sparked protests across Europe.
However, the report does concede that EFSA is "applying some of the most advanced policies and procedures for declaring, assessing and managing potential conflicts of interest." Further, the auditors make several recommendations on how to improve existing policies and procedures.
"From the very outset, EFSA has focused on providing rules on avoiding potential conflicts of interest to those individuals most involved with the Authority's work and has developed its policies in line with the need to secure the impartiality of its scientific advice," states Catherine Geslaine-Laneelle, Executive Director of EFSA, in a press release.
She further adds that many of the recommendations given by the court are already in place and functioning well.
FDA and USDA Under Scrutiny
The U.S Department of Agriculture has decided to do away with the border food inspection procedure which played a key role in detecting E.Coli in beef products imported from XL Foods in Canada.
According to the Huffington Post, all secondary inspections will be eliminated. The skirmish between Canada and the U.S over food products is the reason behind the 'Beyond the Border' deal. The report adds that the inspections will be stopped so as to improve food trade between the two countries.
"We objected from the get-go about how [the elimination of secondary meat inspection] was a stupid idea, and what's happened with XL proves our point," said Tony Corbo, a senior lobbyist with Food & Water Watch in Washington, D.C, according to HuffPost.
The cover story of Bloomberg Markets magazine, reveals that food safety inspection within the U.S. is not all that great either. Food safety inspections are often left to third-party auditors because of lack of sufficient resources.
The report also found that many food manufacturing companies are given the "ok" signal without having been inspected at all. As a result, more than 3,000 people die from food-related diseases in the U.S. every year.
"We need regulations saying you can't ship your product until you have a microbial testing program in place," says Craig Wilson, vice president of food safety at Costco, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
