FD(e)A(dly)

Recalls are just a bandaid

In the past several days, there have been numerous recalls for various food products issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, the FDA has recently issued a recall for cookie dough that contains undisclosed peanuts. 

“People who have allergies to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products," the FDA said in its recall announcement. 

Especially for food-allergy related recalls, improperly labelled or defective products can be not only inconvenient, but cause allergic reactions that can be severe, deeply unpleasant and even deadly. According to Johns Hopkins, 32 million Americans have a food allergy.  

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/allergies-and-the-immune-system/treating-food-allergies-in-children 

Americans with food allergies deserve to be able to eat food safely and trust ingredient labels are correct. For Americans with no food allergies, receiving the wrong product due to an error is simply inconvenient. However, for someone who unknowingly consumes their allergen due to a faulty or mislabeled product, these products can be deadly. For these Americans, recalls are a Band-aid solution to a larger issue: a lack of inspection, and a lack of accountability for companies that mislabel their food. 

Recalls do nothing to undo the damage inflicted upon Americans by faulty and mislabeled products. Companies are not currently held responsible for any harm that befalls allergic consumers, beyond being required to offer a refund or replacement for the cost of the faulty or mislabeled product. Severe allergic reactions can result in missed time at work, and hundreds (or even thousands!) of dollars' worth of medical bills. 

This menial incentive to protect their consumers with food allergies leads to the possibility of harm to unwitting consumers due to carelessness on the part of food manufacturers.

The FDA is doing too little, too late to protect consumers with food allergies.  

To protect consumers, the FDA needs to either institute and enforce consequences, such as fines, for companies that put unlabeled allergens into food products, or inspect food products to ensure that the faulty or mislabeled products, which are dangerous and possibly deadly for those with food allergens, never hit grocery store shelves.