So...Who Runs the FDA?
by Heidi Stevenson
If you ever had any doubt about who runs the FDA, then you can stop wondering. It's the peanut gallery. You might think that the first duty of the FDA is to the people of America. But you'd be missing something far more important—the true lifeblood of the nation, peanut butter. The Peanut Corporation of America had to approve any public notification that the FDA might want to produce.
The recent outbreak of salmonella that infected more than 500 people was caused by peanut butter. Eight people died. Others suffered miserably and many were treated by doctors with painful and risky procedures, including spinal taps, bone scans, MRIs, and CT scans. Yet, the FDA was unable to issue a warning to the public unless and until the Peanut Corporation of America approved! Is this system supposed to protect the public from harm?
Here's a timeline of the peanut contamination:
- 2007: The Blakely company became aware that its products were contaminated with salmonella.
- January 9, 2009: The Blakely plant, a facility of the Peanut Corporation of America, is identified as the source of the Salmonella outbreak.
- January 12, 2009: The FDA issues a statement that it's investigating a peanut butter manufacturer. The official notice does not state the manufacturer's name(1).
- January 13, 2009: The Blakely company issues a limited recall of products.
- January 16, 2009: The FDA issues a statement that it's investigating "a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America". It names one distributor as being under investigation, but offers nothing specific to guide the public(2).
- January 16, 2009: The Blakely company extends the product recall.
- January 17, 2009: The FDA announces that product samples from the Blakely plant have proven positive for salmonella, that Peanut Corporation of America has expanded its voluntary recall, and finally recommends that people stop eating these recalled products(3).
- January 28, 2009: The Blakely company finally recalls all products produced in 2007 and 2008.
Who does the FDA work for? At this time, it seems apparent that it's the corporations that produce food and drugs. The people are the source of money piped to the corporations for whatever the corporations choose to provide in exchange, and the FDA exists to smooth the way for that flow. It's done a good job in this case, managing to keep information about the salmonella contamination away from the public for around two years from the time of discovery.
