Food and Drug Inspections Will be Restricted due to Shutdown

A Food and Drug Administration official said last Thursday that food and drug inspections will be severely restricted in case a government shutdown takes effect. FDA’s centers like Office of Regulatory Affairs, Center for Biologic Evaluation, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Center for Medical Devices and Radiological Health will operate at reduced capacity.

As a result, all FDA inspections of food processing and drug manufacturing will be prioritized by risk. In the event of emergency, like food borne illness outbreak, the agency will call furloughed staff into work.

However, FDA’s current effort to monitor radiation in food products coming from Japan – so as the Center for Tobacco Products – will not be affected by the government shutdown.

The Food and Drug Administration is consists of nine centers and offices that employs 13,000 workers. It is still unknown how many of those employees will be furloughed in case a government shutdown takes place.

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