Meat Safety:
Inspection System's Ability to Detect Harmful Bacteria Remains Limited
T-RCED-94-123: Published: Feb 10, 1994. Publicly Released: Feb 10, 1994.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) efforts to improve its meat and poultry inspection systems, focusing on: (1) the changes to the FSIS meat inspection process; (2) the effectiveness of the inspection changes; and (3) whether additional changes need to be made to protect consumers from an unsafe meat supply. GAO noted that: (1) although FSIS has made changes to its inspection system, the current inspection system still cannot identify and prevent contaminated meat from entering the nation's food supply; (2) FSIS relies primarily on sensory inspection methods that are not capable of detecting pathogens in meat and poultry which pose the greatest public health risk; (3) FSIS initiatives to improve its meat inspection system have not addressed the system's inherent weaknesses; (4) FSIS has not developed new requirements for routine microbial testing by industry or government inspectors; and (5) FSIS needs to increase the frequency of its inspections and develop a more scientific, risk-based inspection system that better protects the public from food poisoning and allows it to target its resources towards higher-risk meat and poultry products.
Jan 15, 2021
Farmworkers:
Additional Information Needed to Better Protect Workers from Pesticide ExposureGAO-21-63: Published: Jan 15, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 15, 2021.
Nov 20, 2020
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Food Safety:
CDC Could Further Strengthen Its Efforts to Identify and Respond to Foodborne IllnessesGAO-21-23: Published: Oct 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 20, 2020.
Nov 16, 2020
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Farm Programs:
USDA Has Improved Its Completion of Eligibility Compliance Reviews, but Additional Oversight Is NeededGAO-21-95: Published: Oct 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020.
Sep 16, 2020
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Agriculture Spending:
Opportunities Exist for USDA to Identify Successes and Challenges of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program to Inform Future EffortsGAO-20-711R: Published: Sep 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2020.
Sep 14, 2020
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USDA Market Facilitation Program:
Information on Payments for 2019GAO-20-700R: Published: Aug 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2020.
Aug 10, 2020
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National Bio and Agro-defense Facility:
DHS and USDA Are Working to Transfer Ownership and Prepare for Operations, but Critical Steps RemainGAO-20-331: Published: Jul 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 10, 2020.
May 7, 2020
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Food Safety:
FDA and USDA Could Strengthen Existing Efforts to Prepare for Oversight of Cell-Cultured MeatGAO-20-325: Published: Apr 7, 2020. Publicly Released: May 7, 2020.
Apr 13, 2020
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Priority Open Recommendations:
U.S. Department of AgricultureGAO-20-288PR: Published: Apr 6, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2020.
Dec 23, 2019
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Nutrition Assistance Programs:
Agencies Could Do More to Help Address the Nutritional Needs of Older AdultsGAO-20-18: Published: Nov 21, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 23, 2019.
Dec 6, 2019
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Imported Seafood Safety:
Actions Needed to Improve FDA Oversight of Import Alert Removal DecisionsGAO-20-62: Published: Nov 6, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 6, 2019.
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