Source:  Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 9/13/10

USDA and Food and Drug Administration employees responsible for various aspects of food safety regulation report situations in which their scientific work has been affected by other influences, according to a recent survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

The survey asked individuals who work in food safety for the two agencies whether they had encountered corporate, political and other interference in their work over the past year.

Ten percent of respondents said they had “frequently” or “occasionally” gotten requests from decision-makers within their agency to “inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or conclusions in an agency scientific document,” while 16 percent said they had “frequently” or “occasionally” experienced “a selective or incomplete use of data to justify a specific regulatory outcome.”

In terms of pressure from outside their agencies, one in four respondents reported frequently or occasionally experiencing “situations where corporate interests have forced the withdrawal or significant modification of an agency policy or action designed to protect consumers or public health” in the past year. On the other hand, 23 percent said they had “seldom” had this experience.

Twenty-two percent reported similar situations in which nongovernmental interests — such as advocacy groups — influenced policy or actions, while 20 percent reported they had seldom had that issue.

The responses did not vary significantly between the two agencies, with the exception of four questions. Respondents who worked at the USDA were more likely to report having adequate resources, and they were more likely to say that they were acting effectively to protect the public from foodborne illness.

 Respondents from the FDA, meanwhile, were more likely to say that members of Congress had forced the withdrawal of or significant changes to policy, and to report instances of businesses not providing necessary information to investigators.

“The administration can act decisively by making a scientific integrity plan,” Francesca Grifo, director of the Scientific Integrity Program at the UCS, said during a briefing Monday morning. UCS is environmental advocacy organization.

A link to the 46-question survey was sent to 8,122 people who work on food safety at the FDA and the USDA in March 2010. More than half of the 1,710 who responded have worked at their agency for 11 or more years. The Union of Concerned Scientists met with officials at the USDA and the FDA prior to conducting the survey, and both agencies told staff they could complete the surveys on their own time.

For more information on the survey, click here.